All Roads Lead to Remnant
by Lavernius Tucker The Aqua Man
Summary: Crossed pathways can lead to many different outlooks. For Team RWBY and other inhabitants of Remnant, it means movie-making birds and sarcastic soul stealing ghouls. For Hat Kid, it means becoming a cool monster-killing huntress, and meeting people with cat ears. Not that that's anything new to her.
1. Clubbin' for a Start

**Welcome to a brand new crossover. This one will be a little different. Not a gore-filled festival like Corpse Party, or a swear-filled one either. Today, The intrepid Hat Kid from a Hat in Time enters the world of red scythe-wielding teens in hoods, RWBY.**

It had been a long day for Hat Kid. Getting those hourglasses was proving to be a huge chore, especially since she had to work in between Snatcher's contracts and the bird's movies. Holding her fourteenth Time Piece, she tiredly opened the fuel hatch and tossed it in.

_Beeep! Beeep! New area unlocked!_

Hat Kid raised an eyebrow. A new area? Since when? Wasn't she supposed to collect one more?

She ran around the ship, trying to find the new doorway. She checked in the art room, her bedroom, the Mafia mailroom, everywhere! But nothing. Well, there was one area she hadn't yet checked. Her diary room underneath the mountain of pillows.

Running back into her room, she ran on to the diving board and did a backflip into the pile, sending pillows everywhere. Finding the secret hole, she crawled in, and there it was.

It was a small door, only about the right size for a kid to squeeze through. Hat Kid studied the door more closely, and was perplexed to see it had a black-and-red rose symbol on it. What did that mean? Was it going to be some sappy romantic place? She hoped not. The thought of such a place almost made her not want to go through. But, she had to get those Time Pieces, before a certain someone _else_ did. Letting out a sigh, she opened the door…

And found herself falling through the sky. Literally. She positioned her body upright to break the fall, and fumbled for her umbrella. Finding it, she opened it up, and safely floated to the ground. She put the umbrella back, and observed her surroundings. She was in a city, a very big city. It couldn't have been Nyakuza Metro, as she didn't have nearly enough Time Pieces to get there. So what was it?

She dusted off her hat and concentrated on using its power. Closing her eyes and spinning in a circle, she used the hat as a dowsing rod, hoping to find a Time Piece. As luck would have it, she stopped spinning and opened her eyes. A large building stood right in front of her. It had no real labelings on it, but from the sound of the music, she assumed it was a club. The hat told her a Time Piece was inside the building. She hoped it would be relatively easy, but knowing how her search had taken her in the past, it wasn't going to happen.

She walked towards the entrance, and saw a line with a bouncer at the front letting in a much older teenager with blonde hair inside the building. Yeah, no way were they going to let her in if there was a bouncer, and she guessed they didn't accept "Federal Union of Birds" passports as legal ID. She needed a way to sneak in.

She double-timed it to the back of the building, spotting a vent system. Perfect. She was in. The music started getting louder as she crawled through the vents, looking for a way out. Looking through a vent grate, she could see the inside of the building. A crowd of people stood on the dance floor, the DJ having a weird bear hat on. She once again tapped into her hat's homing powers, zeroing in on the bar counter. There was the same blonde teen from before. Did she have it? No, the hat didn't think so. The blonde teen appeared to be talking to some guy. What was she doing with her hand? Hat Kid peered out of the grate, and pulled out a pair of binoculars.

Her eyes widened as she saw that her hand was on the man's...uh...parts that little girls shouldn't be thinking about or seeing. A crowd of men in red ties and hats approached her, all holding weapons. This didn't seem good. Her hat then zeroed in on the man's pockets. That shine! He had one! He has the Time Piece!

The blonde noticed the crowd, and let go of the man's stuff. She then walked over to the dance floor with him, continuing to talk to him. She then made a strange face, her eyes closed and her mouth slightly parted. What was she doing now? The man turned around, and made a simular face.

Hat Kid's face was flustered as she realized what was going to happen. She quickly pulled her head up from the grate and sat there, trying not to throw up. She _knew_ there was a rose on there for a reason! She then heard a loud _THUMP!_ She looked back out of the grate. The blonde girl had punched the man...across the room?! What in the world was going on?

The crowd had run out of the club, with the men with ties running at the blonde girl. Now was her chance! The man was all alone! She jumped out of the grate, landing around the bar area. Unfortunately, the bartender had noticed this.

"What the-who let a kid in here? Get her out! Someone!"

The blonde girl's eyes flicked towards her, and her eyebrows raised upon seeing the small girl with a hat on. She then turned her attention back towards the men running at her, jumping up into the air and slamming her fist into the ground, making everyone including Hat Kid trip and fall. Hat Kid recovered, finding that she was now hanging off the bar ledge. She quickly got up.

One of the men with an axe approached her.

"Hey, Kid. Look, I'd love to beat up snotty brats who think they can just walk into a club, but it turns out that one snot-brat is causing more trouble, so I'll make you a deal. You walk out right now, and I'll pretend I never saw you."

Hat Kid considered his deal, looking at the blonde girl absolutely kicking tail. She needed to get that Time Piece, and that blonde girl seemed to be her best bet. She smirked.

"So, have you thought about my offer?" The man asked.

Hat Kid responded by pulling out her umbrella and pointing it at the man.

The man shrugged. "That's a shame." He then lunged right at her, an axe going right through the counter. Hat Kid jumped on the handle of the axe and bounced off it, whacking the guy with her umbrella, which to her surprise sent him flying. She landed on the ground, looking at her umbrella in amazement. _Looks like I got an upgrade_.

"Nice one, Kiddo!" The blonde said, flashing a smile as she powered through a whole herd of axemen.

Hat Kid smiled back, before turning her attention towards the man who had the Time Piece. And right between them, another crowd of henchmen who realized they had someone else to worry about. She quickly took off her hat, and pulled out from it her Sprint Hat. _Time to get messy_.

She ran right through the crowd, twirling her umbrella, hitting any poor soul who got close, zipping around sword swings. Gee, she hadn't felt this energized since her fight with the Mafia Boss.

"Kid! Look out!" The blonde girl yelled. She pointed at the DJ bear, who had produced a gun and was aiming it in their general direction. Hat Kid froze. She'd never dodged gunfire until now, unless you call fireworks from a firework gun gunfire. The DJ started to fire, and Hat Kid zigzagged in every which-way to avoid the bullets.

"I'll get him!" The blonde shouted, jumping right into the DJ's spray, then doing a couple moves that Hat Kid didn't understand, but she could say for sure must've made the DJ hurt a lot. She then tossed him across the dance floor. Something inside Hat Kid told her it would be a good idea to stick with her. She sped over, jump-flipping onto the stand by her side.

"You're pretty good at this, Kid. But you don't look a day over 12. What're you doing here, punching gang henchmen?"

Hat Kid pointed at the man with the Time Piece.

"Need something from him too? Sounds like a plan. I know we already started to, but why don't we solve this problem together?"

Hat Kid nodded.

"Cool. I'm Yang, by the way. Yang Xiao Long. What's your name?"

Hat Kid was about to reply, when she noticed two teens, arguably the same age as Yang, approach the dance floor. One was in red, the other in white.

"Melanie, who are these girls?" The one in red asked the one in white. Were those claws on her wrists?

"I dunno, Miltia, but we should teach them a lesson." The girl in white replied.

Hat Kid put a hand to her forehead. These girls seemed actually deadly. Was she in over her head? The Mafia Boss wasn't a calkwalk, mind you, but he was fat, stupid, and spent his days sitting on a throne. These girls looked like they knew what they were doing.

Yang must have noticed the look of worry on Hat Kid's face. She bent over so she was at eye level with her.

"How about I take care of them, and you go find our friend Junior?" She offered.

Hat Kid nodded. One guy with no weapons shouldn't be too hard. Still, she couldn't be too careful. Yang's bracelets did turn out to be gauntlets that shot shotgun shells, after all.

Yang did an arm twitch with her gauntlets, and spend shells flew out of them. She then tossed out two rings of new shells into the air, loading them into her gauntlets, and jumping right at the girls, shooting flaming shells right at them. Hat Kid took this as her que to exit stage right, and made for Junior, the man with the Time Piece.

She approached Junior slowly, her umbrella pointed straight at his face as he stood up. He noticed her.

"What? What do you want, Kid?" He said with a sneer.

Hat Kid frowned and pointed towards the shiny hourglass in his pocket. Junior saw what she had pointed to.

"Oh, this?" He said, taking the Time Piece out of his pocket and dangling it in front of the child. "Well I'll tell you what, Kid. You help us take care of that blonde, I'll let you have it."

Hat Kid looked at the man. Was he serious? There was no way she was going to backstab Yang. She needed the Time Piece, sure, but she didn't want to turn that heart-to-heart with her new friend sour like she did with _her_.

Hat Kid shook her head, and nudged him with the tip of the umbrella. The answer was no.

"Too bad. Looks like you'll get it the hard way, Kid." Junior growled. He then pulled out a baseball bat.

Hat Kid jumped back just in time to avoid a swing. _PECK!_ Of course he was armed! Who isn't these days?

Junior went full frenzy on Hat Kid, swinging every-which-way, some missing, some nearly taking her hat off. Hat Kid retaliated with a flurry of umbrella swings, some striking Junior.

_SLAM!_

Both Junior and Hat Kid looked over to see Yang had dealt with both of the two girls. Hat Kid considered that her judgement had definitely paid off in this scenario.

"Forget you!" Junior said, snarling at Hat Kid, walking away from her. "This brat just took out two of my best black-market huntresses!"

He walked over to where he had a clear view of the blonde, and pushed a button on his bat.

Hat Kid's eyes went as wide as they could and she nearly tripped in surprise when the bat turned into what appeared to be a rocket launcher, pointed right at her friend.

She furrowed her brow and grit her teeth. Over her dead body! She activated her Hookshot Badge, shooting a hook right at the chandelier above the dance floor, shouting a mighty battle cry, as mighty as a little girl could, umbrella poised to strike, Hat Kid swung right at Junior, who turned around just in time to get absolutely creamed by the hat-wearing girl. The hit was so forceful, he plowed straight into the ground, causing the floor beneath him to crack as he landed.

Even Yang looked impressed and taken aback by this. "Dang, girl! You hit hard! And that's saying something coming from me!"

Both she and Hat Kid walked over to Junior, struggling to get to his feet.

"Y-you k-k-k-k-KIDS!" He shouted.

"Oh I think we're a little older than that, Junior." Yang said in a sing-song voice. "Well, at least one of us. Now, for me, info on the girl. For my friend here, uh...What did you want?"

Hat Kid pointed towards the shiny hourglass.

"Huh, an eye for shiny stuff I guess. Well, who am I to judge?" She said. "Well, Junior, fork it over. Or do I have to make you call me 'Sir' again?"

Junior stood up, taking the hourglass in his hand. "You want it so bad?!" He yelled exasperatedly. "FETCH!" He then threw it across the room. Hat Kid's eyes widened, and she bolted for the Time Piece. Yang grabbed on to his collar. "You…"

But even with her Sprint Hat on, she couldn't keep up with the Time Piece. It shattered on the floor into a million pieces. Hat Kid slid to a halt, standing over the now-broken hourglass. She looked at it for a second, then rolled her eyes in irritation as to what she knew would happen next.

Yang walked over to her, and crouched down. "Dang, sorry about that, Kiddo. But I guess bad guys want to be bad guys, right?"

Hat Kid looked up at her and gave her an irritated frown.

"Maybe there's more?" Yang said, trying to lift up the mood. It was short lived, as something she never experienced before happened. The whole room seemed to fill with a purplish-black glow, and then she found herself standing in front of Junior again, holding him by his collar.

"Huh?!" She asked, turning around and dropping the man. There was the hourglass, on the floor as it had been, but this time, it was perfectly intact.

"W-Wait, what?" Yang stuttered, utterly speechless as to what had happened. Did that thing just...reverse...time?!

"How the…" Junior added, he too lost for words.

"Oh shut up and whine for a moment." Yang chastised, hitting him right in the nether regions. He instantly grabbed them and fell to the floor, groaning. She then walked over to Hat Kid and the hourglass.

"That's one crazy contraption there, Kid. I don't know what just happened, but I assume you probably do."

Hat Kid nodded. Oh, did she ever.

"Well, you're better off keeping it then. Here ya go." She said, tossing her the Time Piece.

The hat child was surprised. No strings attached? No contracts to sign? No movies to make?

"Well, I'd better get going. And you too. The cops will be here any minute. Until next time, buddy!"

With that being said, she used her gauntlet-shotguns to propel herself out the window of the club, shattering everything.

Hat Kid gave the flying blonde a questioning glance. No strings attached, then. Back to the ship.

She reached into her hat and pulled out a keychain. Pressing a button on it, she was enveloped in a green light, before she disappeared completely.


	2. Train Heists and Sleepovers

**Hey everyone, hope you enjoyed the first chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

**First, to clarify, yes I gave Hat Kid a little buff, as she's going up against Grimm and people who fight for a living, not train owls and ghouls. **

**Team RWBY will get to spend some time helping Hat Kid in her own adventure, getting all the Time Pieces from the Snatcher, the Conductor, DJ Grooves, and confronting Mustache Girl. **

Hat Kid spun in the chair of her spaceship wheel. Whew! That was one hectic fight. She wasn't even sure it was on the same planet as she was. Well, another day in the life.

She jumped out of the chair, running back to her room, then to the secret pillow fort. She studied the door more. How did it get here? She was almost certain it wasn't here before. And that girl Yang and the man Junior, and those two girls, and the DJ bear? What was that all about? They weren't birds or ghouls or mafia. They were just plain humans.

She jumped back up from the fort and plopped down on her bed. So many questions. It made her feel like going crazy. But she had to pull herself together. A door appearing means one thing: There are Time Pieces there. And she needs to find them all.

Running back to the fort, Hat Kid opened up the door once more, expecting to fall as she did last time. Instead, she found herself coming out of a bush. This was a strange door, as most others were consistent with where they put her. She did a quick look-around. She was in a forest, the tree leaves bloomed with a red shade to them. It seemed very peaceful.

Hat Kid activated her hat's power, searching for the Time Piece. She closed her eyes and started walking in the direction the hat showed her. She opened her eyes and noticed she was nearing the edge of a cliff. It was likely that the Time Piece was just over it. Just then, two flashes of red and black blew past her, causing her to spin around and trip. 

She regained her footing. What was that? She looked back over to the cliff face. There stood two people, about the same age as Yang, she would guess. One was a woman, wearing a white and black shirt and a bow on her head. The other, a man, had a strange mask on, almost reminding her of her own Dweller's Mask. They both appeared to be armed with swords, as she could see the sheathe hanging on the woman's back, and the man's side.

She then heard a familiar sound. A train whistle. Hat Kid blinked. A train? Could it be the Owl Express?

All of a sudden, the man pulled out his sword and jumped right off the cliff. The woman glanced back at Hat Kid, who jumped back upon seeing that she knew she was there. The woman didn't seem to care, however, and simply jumped off the cliff after the man. Hat Kid rushed over to the edge, seeing that they both were skidding on the side. They then jumped off. The man pulled out his sword, landing on the train, stabbing it into the top.

Hat Kid was relieved upon seeing that the train did not resemble the Owl Express in any way. If the Conductor found out his "lovely train" had two unwanted passengers aboard, he would absolutely lose it. She tapped into her hat's power once more, and her suspicions were correct. The hat told her there was a Time Piece onboard the train. She let out a sigh, before diving off the cliff after the two.

She opened her umbrella to break her fall, landing a little bit behind them. The man sliced open a hole inside the train. He and the woman then jumped inside the hole. Hat Kid didn't know what they were doing onboard, but she didn't have time to answer questions. Her priority was getting the Time Piece. She jumped over the hole, pressing onwards towards the front, where her hat told her to go.

She heard what sounded like a lot of gunfire and swords clanking, and assumed the girl and man ran into some trouble. She considered lending them a hand, but decided against it, as technically they were committing a crime, and she didn't want to get in bad with the authorities of this place.

Hat Kid moved into the open-area car, searching boxes. There wasn't much in them, just some weird colored crystals she didn't care about.

The back door to the car behind her flung open, a robot flying out with the man and woman following. Several other robots crowded around them. They didn't seem to care about the much smaller woman searching through the luggage.

Hat Kid stopped searching for a bit to watch the fight. The man and woman ran straight at the robots, swinging their swords, knocking several down. The woman did some weird move where she threw the blade at the robots, holding onto it with a black ribbon. The blade turned into a gun, and fired at all the robots as she swung it around.

The man proceeded to rush into a crowd of robots and swing his sword every which-way, the robots falling to the ground in a heap.

It was at this moment Hat Kid realized she should get back on-task, and she continued rummaging through boxes, hoping to find the Time Piece. She looked up to see the man walking towards her, and he did not look happy. Her eye twitched, and she moved as fast as she could through the boxes. She was about to open the next box when the man grabbed her by the back of her collar.

"I've got the kid. Let's move." He said with an ounce of annoyance in his voice.

They moved into the next car, an area with more crates and boxes. The man opened one.

"Perfect." He said in a gruff voice. "Move on to the next car. I'll set the charges."

"What about the crew members?" The woman asked.

"What about them?" The man replied.

All of a sudden, a huge robot with 4 legs crawled out of the shadows.

"Adam!" The woman chastised.

The man, now known as Adam, put Hat Kid down. He then charged at the behemoth, which opened fire with white glowing rounds. The woman leapt onto some boxes, then attempted to slice it. It didn't go over so well, as the blade bounced off, forcing her to come back to the ground. Adam jumped in, slicing and dicing, but the robot kicked him back with one of its four legs.

Adam ran back, grabbed the woman, and set them at the back of the car.

"We need to get out of here!" The woman said.

The robot's barrels elongated, and it started charging white light.

The woman's eyes went wide, as she saw that the small child was in its direct line of fire.

"THE KID!" She shouted.

"On it." Adam replied, rushing in to grab Hat Kid, who was frozen in fear.

The robot fired a huge blast of white, knocking Adam, holding Hat Kid, and the woman back to another open car.

"Buy me some time!" Adam yelled at the woman.

"Are you sure?" She asked

"Do it!" He replied.

The woman lunged at the robot, attempting to punch a hole in it however she could.

Hat Kid had managed to get away and to the other open car behind them, continuing her search for the Time Piece.

The robot then shot another huge blast of white at the two. Adam pulled out his sword and seemed to absorb the shot into it.

The robot jumped at him, and then-_SWISH_-Adam cut right through it, turning the monster into a cloud of black shreds.

He then turned around and headed for the other car.

Hat Kid looked up from her search to see what was happening.

The woman was standing on the edge of the car she was on, looking at Adam, who was on the other one. The woman gave Adam a sad look.

"Goodbye."

She took out her sword, and then cut the connectors between her car and Adam's.

Hat Kid was taken aback by this. What was she doing?

()

Later that night, Hat Kid and the woman sat together in the woods by an open flame.

"You're probably wondering what happened back there. It's a long story." The woman said.

Hat Kid shrugged.

"We'll just say I broke up with him and leave it at that."

She put a twig into the fire.

"My name's Blake. Blake Belladonna." The woman said.

"Hat Kid." The child replied. It wasn't often she talked, but giving her name was one of the few times she did.

"Hat Kid? Is that what they call you, or is that your actual name?" Blake asked.

Hat Kid shrugged. It was just the name she knew.

"Well, I assume you weren't robbing the train back there with us, Hat Kid. What were you doing?" Blake questioned.

Hat Kid pulled out her camera and showed Blake a picture of a Time Piece.

"Oh, those. I think I have one." Blake said, digging into her pockets. Pulling out the glowing hourglass, she looked at it with a curious face.

"What are these things? How do they work?"

Hat Kid had no intention of explaining. She beckoned for Blake to give it to her.

"Alright, alright. Here you go." The bow-haired girl replied, tossing her the hourglass.

Hat Kid nodded, and put the Time Piece under her hat.

"By the way, I was wondering." Blake continued. "You wouldn't happen to know a place where I could stay for the night? I'd do fine out here, but the Grimm may try to have me as a midnight snack while I sleep."

Hat Kid thought to herself. Blake seemed kind-as far as she knew. She helped her out like Yang did, and she figured there wasn't too much of a problem with letting her stay, as only Hat Kid knew the combination to the Time Piece Vault.

She reached into her hat and pulled out her keychain.

"Woah, what's…" Blake started to say, but before she could continue, Hat Kid held onto her hand, and pressed a button on the keychain. Green light surrounded them, and Blake's eyes were wide as plates.

In a second, they were standing in the diary room.

"Teleportation? What?" Blake said, her eyes not as wide as they were before, but still pretty wide.

Hat Kid gestured to the top of the fort, which was covered in pillows. She then jumped into the pillows, leaving the room.

"Hat Kid, what is this place?" She asked, looking around. A small hand stuck out of the pillows and beckoned her to come out.

Blake shrugged and climbed out of the fort, attempting to get out of what appeared to be a sea of pillows.

She finally surfaced and caught her breath. What she saw took it right away. The room she was in was a massive bedroom, with a window looking out. What she saw out the window was space, as far as the eye could see. Hat Kid stood at the bed, waving.

"Hat Kid…" Blake gasped, coming out of the pillows. "What is this place, and who are you?"

Hat Kid jumped off the bed, landing right in front of her. She gave Blake a huge smile, and ran through a door that had a gear sign on it. Blake sighed.

"What a character." She then took off after Hat Kid, running through the doors, into a purple-floored corridor, through another door that opened into a large open area.

The room was filled with blinking lights. A TV stood in the corner, with some weird dog show on it. There was a huge screen beside a vault-style door, with a picture of the hourglass, and a number.

Hat Kid climbed up a ladder leading to the vault, opened it, and tossed in her newly acquired hourglass.

"So that's what they're for." Blake said. "Are they keeping this place on?"

Hat Kid nodded. She gestured towards the large glass window that stood at the front. At the front there was what appeared to be a control station, with a wooden ship wheel in front of a large chair. Beside it was a door that looked to have been boarded up with wooden planks.

Through the window, she could see a large view of a planet, definitely not hers.

"It's...beautiful." She said, pressing her hands against the glass.

She turned around and saw that Hat Kid had ran off again, probably to get something. She took this as an opportunity to look around. There was a yellow slide poking out the wall, a circular disc-shaped robot that kept crashing into things, and exhibit stands showing off ordinary objects.

She walked up to one in particular, a cheeseburger cushion. The writing on the plaque said: _"Research concludes that this thing is very soft to sit on. So soft, that the only logical conclusion is that these are the chairs of this planet. It is not a snack. I tried. It tastes like fabric."_

Blake chuckled softly reading the last part. She then heard a door open, seeing Hat Kid emerge from a blue door, carrying a mattress with bed stuff and a pile of pillows. She flipped the mattress in the air, as well as the pillows, having the mattress land first, then sheets and blankets, then pillows. Hat Kid then looked at Blake and did a wave, before running into the blue door.

Blake was pretty surprised to say the least. Hat Kid, whoever she was, certainly was not from Remnant. Questions danced in her head as to what this meant for her.

But it didn't matter. She was finally free from the White Fang. As free as being teleported into a kid's spaceship was. There was probably a way to return to Remnant and continue her life there, enrolling in Beacon and becoming a huntress. But for now, she would need her sleep.

She crawled into the mattress and laid her head on the pillows. They were unbelievably soft. Her thoughts started to leave her as she drifted away into dreamland.

_Until tomorrow, then._

**NEXT CHAPTER: Blake meets the soul-stealing, toilet-hating, contract-making ghoul himself, THE SNATCHER!**


	3. The Toilet of DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

**Chapter 3, let's get to it!**

Blake woke up to the harmonic sound of spaceship beeps and whirrs. Stirring, she stood up, looking around her. The room around her hadn't changed much, as was to be expected of being in space.

She walked towards the ladder, jumping up onto the second floor. She was starving! Was there anything to eat on this ship?

Peering through the viewing glass of two double doors, Blake could make out what appeared to be a kitchen. Wait, what was that small furry thing standing near the stove?

Her eyes widened. No, really? Seriously? She opened the door.

Her suspicions were confirmed. A cat, an actual, physical CAT was standing at the stove with a chef's hat on!

The cat turned towards her.

"Why hello there, Miss." The cat said in a strange accent. _Of course it talks. _"Breakfast will be ready soon, please do go wash your hands."

Blake nodded and did as she was told. "Where's Hat Kid?" she asked.

"The young Miss is off collecting more of those Time Pieces she so desires." The cat replied. "Maybe you'd consider helping her out if you're not too busy."

Blake thought about it. Hat Kid had given her a place to stay, why shouldn't she return the favor?

"I'll see what I can do."

The cat placed a plate at the table.

"Grilled fish and eggs, served straight from the skillet!" It said.

Blake smiled. While being a Faunus didn't mean she was entirely cat, she did carry some of her counterpart's mental as well as physical features, one of which being her preference for fish and seafood.

The double doors swung open. Blake looked over to see her hat-wearing friend.

"Morning, Hat Kid." She said.

Hat Kid waved, then walked over to the fridge, pulling out some milk and pouring it into a glass. She then walked over to the table and placed in on her end.

"So…" Blake said. "Is it just you and the cat in here, or…?"

Cat chef turned to her. "Oh no, miss. I only just started cookin' for Hat Kiddo. It's sort of a thank you after savin' us from that _awful_ Mafia Boss."

"Mafia Boss?"

"That fat, mustached, good-for-nothin' 1-star-chef had an iron fist over Mafia Town." The cat replied. "Hat Kid here and Mustache Girl changed that. Though I have to say, what Mustache Girl did next went a little too far."

"Jeez, Hat Kid. I didn't know you busted gangs before." Blake said, smirking. "What did Mustache Girl do?"

Hat Kid looked away, showing clear unpleasantry with the mention of said person.

"That brat turned on all of the lava faucets over Mafia Town after the whole fiasco went down!" Chef Cat replied. "Can you believe it? The Mafia had disintegrated, and Mustache Girl made it worse!"

"I suppose I could." Blake said, remembering many occasions when the White Fang had decimated farms and other settlements even after the people had surrendered.

Hat Kid finished her glass of milk, and Blake's plate had been emptied.

"Well, y'all best get going! Those Time Pieces won't collect themselves, y'know." Chef Cat said.

Hat Kid nodded, and jumped off her seat. Blake stood up.

"Mind if I help out?" She asked.

The hat child smiled and nodded. Any help was welcome. She led her down to her room, where there was a telescope pointed at a particular area of the planet. It was a dark, foresty area, with purple clouds of mist scattered all around.

"Looks inviting." Blake commented.

Hat Kid pulled out her keychain, this time pressing a different button. The same green light enveloped them, before dissipating, leaving the two in a dark, wooded area. A massive tree stood before them, huge mushrooms poking out from the sides.

"Subtle." Blake said.

Hat Kid and her walked down a path in front of the tree. She noticed Hat Kid would stop every so often and look around.

After about 10 minutes of walking down the path, Hat Kid fully stopped and ran towards a circle of leaves with sticks sticking out from each side.

"Hat Kid, wait, I think that's a-" Blake began, but it was too late. Hat Kid stepped into the circle, and Blake ran after her.

The atmosphere started to get unusually cold, and Blake could sense something was off. All of a sudden, a massive explosion of purple-black goo spewed out from all around them. A loud booming voice rang out, making Blake pull out her sword.

"**AHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! ``**The voice said. A shroud of purple lurched out towards Hat Kid.

"**YOU TOTALLY SCREWED YOUR-Wait it's just you." **The voice said. The shroud of purple backed away from Hat Kid, now revealing two yellow eyes and a mouth that reminded Blake of a jack-o-lantern.

"**Wait, no that doesn't make any sense, there was someone else…"** The creature said. He then noticed Blake.

"**YOU?! Who the heck are you?" **The creature asked in surprise.

"My name's Blake Belladonna." Blake replied. "I'm with her." She added, pointing to Hat Kid.

"**Wait,wait,wait what?" **The creature said in confusion. He turned to Hat Kid.

"**Kid, this ain't a vacation spot! You can't just bring whoever you want in here! You're not here to gossip with besties. You're here to WORK for ME!" ** The creature scolded.

"I can help if you need me to." Blake said.

"**Ma'am, please. I'm trying to have a one-on-one with my employee here."** The creature replied sarcastically. **"She can stay, fine. But if she gets in the way, she's out!" **

Hat Kid nodded. Deal.

"**Good. Now, I believe you have some contractual obligations to attend to." **The creature said. **"GET TO IT!"**

The purple-black dissipated, and the shroud flew into the ground, where it phased right into it.

"He seemed cheery." Blake said.

Hat Kid rolled her eyes. "Snatcher." She said.

"Snatcher? What does he snatch?" Blake asked.

Hat Kid shrugged.

"So what do we need to do?" Blake said.

Hat Kid pulled out some sheets of paper from her hat. They looked worn and yellowed. Blake bent down and looked at one of them.

"The Toilet of Doom?" Blake read. "That sounds like the title of a kid's comic book."

Hat Kid shrugged. She didn't really understand it either.

They decided to try doing the Toilet contract for today. Hat Kid lead the way, switching to her Scooter Badge. As they sped off, they noticed that pipes would occasionally appear out of the ground, spurting purple-black goo everywhere. Creatures of all kinds ran away from where they were going. A large hole stood in between them and the other side.

Hat Kid activated her Hookshot Badge and flung across the hole, Blake propelled herself over with a shot from her weapon.

They approached a large, stone circle. In the middle of the stone circle was a pool of green muck. In the middle was what Blake assumed was the "Toilet of Doom". It appeared to be nothing more than an old school wooden outhouse. That thought immediately disappeared when she and Hat Kid approached it.

The outhouse appeared to be sentient, as it reacted by making a roaring noise, slamming its door in and out in anger.

Did she really just go from fighting train robots to fighting a giant angry sentient outhouse?

The outhouse opened up with a ranged attack, jumping out of the pool and launching green balls of muck out of its toilet bowl. Hat Kid and Blake dodged the balls.

Blake rushed forwards, attempting to slice the outhouse in one go. She overestimated her opponent, as the outhouse sent her flying back as it swung its door open right at her.

Hat kid grappled onto a light post right above the muck pool, swinging right at the toilet. She managed to get a hit in with her parasol, making the outhouse topple over. The outhouse reacted by launching itself up in the air, slamming into the ground. Hat Kid hopped in the air as soon as he landed on the ground.

Blake got up from the ground and brushed herself off. Her Faunus senses immediately triggered, telling her she was in immediate danger. She leapt out of the way, just in time to dodge a hanging cage that was swung right at her.

She then turned to the outhouse, which was chasing after Hat Kid, the pipe on its top blowing green steam. Changing her weapon to gun form, she fired four bullets at the outhouse to get it's attention. The rounds tore through the side of the outhouse. It stopped for a second, then looked straight at her.

"Oh boy."

The outhouse let out a chilling screech before charging right at Blake.

"Why did it have to be _toilets_?!" Blake shouted, narrowly avoiding several slimeball attacks.

Hat Kid took this as a chance to get her hits in, switching to her Brewing Hat. She threw potions at the raging toilet, getting chunks of its door frame off.

The toilet lunged into the air, coming back down and sending out a mighty shockwave that sent both girls flying back into the green pool of muck.

Blake groaned as she saw her outfit was now drenched with the stuff. "Please let this stuff come off easily."

Hat Kid changed to Sprint Hat and charged right at the outhouse, umbrella poised to strike. Blake took her cue and followed suite, dashing to the side to avoid more chained cage swings.

Blake jumped up onto the outhouse and jabbed her sword into the door. The outhouse shrieked in what she could only guess was pain. She then used this opportunity to pry the outhouse's door open.

"Hat Kid, throw one of those potions in there!" She shouted. "Hurry! I can't hold on forever!"

Hat Kid nodded, rushing over. She jumped up, did a front flip, switched to her Brewing Hat, and got her potion in throwing position.

Landing on the seat of the toilet, she threw the potion in, then backflipped right off. Blake released her hold and leaped off as well. They both stood back a good five feet from the toilet to see what would happen.

The outhouse snapped it's door in and out a few times, before making some strange gurgling sounds. The door exploded right off its hinges, sending a tidal wave of green muck right at the two girls.

When it subsided, Blake found herself on all fours, spitting out junk from her mouth. Hat Kid tried to wipe off her face, which was covered in the stuff, preventing her from seeing anything.

Blake got up and wiped it off for her.

"Well, I think that's that." Blake said. "Toilet has been plunged."

Hat Kid let out a breath. _What an ordeal._

"You wouldn't happen to know anywhere I could go to wash these clothes, would you? Blake asked.

Hat Kid shrugged. She hadn't unlocked her laundry room yet.

"That's a shame. Maybe I'll find one on Remnant. How do I get back there, by the way?"

Hat Kid pulled out her keychain, and showed her a button with a red rose on it.

Blake pressed the button, and the same green light enveloped her. Before she knew it, she was back in Remnant, sitting in front of a now smoldering fire with Hat Kid.

"Thanks. Maybe we'll stay in touch?" Blake asked.

Hat Kid nodded, handing her a keychain with only one button on it. The button had a picture of a spaceship on it.

"Cool. I'll come and visit again sometime. Hopefully we won't have to do any more business with toilets." Blake said.

With that, Hat Kid teleported away, back to her spaceship, leaving Blake sitting there.

"Literally nobody is going to take me seriously if I tell them what just happened."

Back on the spaceship, Hat Kid considered that she could've taken Blake to the laundromat in Mafia Town, but considering the mafia was still sour with her after she defeated the Mafia Boss, she put that thought to rest. She stretched her arms out. Maybe Yang would want to see her spaceship sometime. She and Blake and her could all help DJ Grooves or the Conductor make their new movies. The hat-wearing child smiled. If Blake thought the Snatcher was a fun one, she was sure the Conductor would give him a run for his money.

To more adventures in the new land of Remnant! She jumped in the pillow sea, into the diary room, and rushed right out of that door…

...Only to bump into a huge, hulking, armored, sword wielding...thingy.

No, yeah. No, yeah great. Yeah. _Yeah! YEAH! _


	4. Red and White, or White and Red?

**Linkone1: Yeah, I don't really have much to do today, so I guess that makes you the lucky one!**

**Just so you know, once I had finished writing the White Trailer part, I realized that it would be unusually short. So this one will combine both the White Trailer and the Dust store robbery. Enjoy.**

**Chapter 4: **

Hat Kid narrowly dodged the swing of the giant armored behemoth, landing flat on the floor. Why did almost everything attack her?

The monster charged again, sword ready to stab. Hat Kid changed to Brewing Hat, throwing a potion at it, which did relatively nothing to stop it. The monster punched Hat Kid, sending her flying, right into a girl in white who appeared to be singing. Hat Kid pointed her umbrella in the direction of the white girl and opened it, hoping to slow her down. She just narrowly avoided planting right into her, instead sliding on the floor until she was right beside her.

The girl in white looked over to her.

"Hmm? A child? How'd you get on stage? Where are your parents?" She questioned.

Hat Kid pointed her umbrella towards the giant monster, who was now charging at the girl in white.

Her eyes went wide. She pulled out a rapier, and jumped right at the monster. Their swords clashed, and the sound of steel on steel echoed in the theatre.

"Get out of here!" She yelled at Hat Kid. "This is no place for a kid!"

Hat Kid rolled her eyes. _Where have I heard that a thousand times before?_ She switched to Sprint Hat, deciding that speed was the key. Dashing around the monster, her parasol made impact on its head, and it pulled back. The girl in white used this opportunity to unleash a fury of stabs and strikes onto the behemoth.

"I said, GET OUT!" The girl shouted louder with each strike.

Peck, she sounded just like Mustache Girl.

Hat Kid ignored her again, bouncing up in the air and hitting the behemoth again in the head. The armored monster reacted by grabbing a fistfull of her hair, to which Hat Kid winced in pain.

"Look what you've gone and done!" The girl commented. "Now I have to save both our skins!"

She summoned a strange, white, circular symbol that resembled a snowflake, lunging at the monster. The two continued to tussle, with Hat Kid struggling to get free. At one point, the monster threw a punch, sending the girl in white flying across the stage.

Hat Kid at this point had a plan. She reached into her hat, which was just barely about to fall off, and pulled out her camera. She then held it out to the monster's head as far as she could, insuring the flash was on "Epilepsy-Inducing" brightness. She didn't know what epilepsy was, but she had seen it used in Dead Bird Studios to blinding effect.

Pressing the "TAKE THE PECKIN' PICTURE ALREADY!" Button, the camera flashed extremely bright. The monster, taken aback by the brightness, dropped Hat Kid, stumbling as it clutched the opening in its visor.

Hat Kid took the chance to escape, rushing behind stage. What was she doing here again? Right, finding the Time Piece. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She opened her eyes with a look of annoyance. Of course the monster had it. She ran back onstage, umbrella in hand.

The girl in white was really kicking tail, even to the point of disarming the monster.

Hat Kid ran charged right at the behemoth, twirling around and swinging the umbrella.

It wasn't very effective, but it drew the monster's attention towards her, as the girl in white leaped up in the air, rapier pointed straight at the monster. She then dived back down, slicing the monster in the chest, making it disappear in a shroud of white.

She took a bow to the crowd as the curtains closed, then focused her attention to the small child.

"You!" She shouted. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

Hat Kid folded her arms and rolled her eyes. She didn't take to scolding from people like these.

"But…" She began. "You did help to take its attention away. And I thank you for warning me in advance. Weiss Schnee, by the way."

Hat Kid's eyes lit up. Maybe she was going to be slightly lenient.

"You will be fined 10,000 Lien for disturbing the concert. That is all." She said, walking away.

Hat Kid rolled her eyes again. Yeah right, like she had a disposable source of income. She then looked back to where the monster had been. Where was the Time Piece? She looked back to Weiss, who she saw was holding it and looking at it curiously.

She tapped her shoulder.

"Hmm? What? You want an autograph?"

Her umbrella pointed at the hourglass.

"This? You want this? Well, I don't really know what it is, nor care." Weiss said, tossing it to the kid.

"Consider it a 'thank you' for the help."

Hat Kid took the hourglass and put it in her hat.

"Security will escort you outside." She said, pointing to two men in black suits.

Hat Kid's eyes widened. She didn't like the look of these two. They looked like the crows from C.A.W.

She immediately pulled out her keychain and tapped the spaceship button. In a bright flash of green light, the girl disappeared from the stage.

Wiess's eyes were wide as plates. "Wait, what?"

Back in the ship, Hat Kid pressed a button on the TV which allowed her to track those who had keychains, particularly Blake. She saw that Blake had taken residence in a bookshop, and was doing pretty well for herself.

Hat Kid thought about all the new people she had met. Yang, Blake, Weiss, and all those other people. What did this mean for her? Was she going to meet them again? She hoped so. They seemed like nice people. Well, most of them...Ehh, we'll just say Weiss counts for ½ of a nice person. She went back to the door. Well, no rest for the weary.

This time, she found herself inside a garbage can. Yuck! She climbed back out, shaking apple cores and cans off her shirt. She appeared to be in the same city as when she met Yang, making her hopeful she could meet her friend again.

She tapped into the power of her hat, the hat telling her a Time Piece was inside a random shop. Walking over to the store, called "From Dust Till Dawn", she opened the door, looking inside.

"Why hello there, little girl. What can I do for you?" An old man at the counter asked.

Hat Kid took a look around. Was this a candy shop? What were those weird containers of crystals? They looked similar to the ones she found on the train.

She pulled out her camera and showed him the picture of the Time Piece.

The old man put a hand to his chin in thought.

"Hmmm, I might have acquired something like that. Let me search the storage closet. You go ahead and take a look around, see if you might want anything else." He said.

Hat Kid decided to take the old man's words, walking around. There were bags with colors on them, she assumed they were code for something. She noticed a magazine rack, and a girl in red wearing a hood, younger than Yang, but definitely older than her, standing there reading one.

She walked over to the girl, taking a magazine from the rack and looking at it. The girl noticed her and took off her headphones.

"Hey there." She said.

Hat Kid waved.

The two went back to reading their magazines. Hat Kid's was about stuff she didn't understand. The nonsensical drivel was so boring, she put back the magazine and reached into her hat to grab her own.

The girl in red looked at the magazine.

"Mafia Cooking for Annoying Little Girls, 10th Edition?" The girl asked, reading the title.

Hat Kid nodded, and held it out for her to see.

The girl opened the first page.

"Recipe for Cooking Mafia Spaghetti. Step 1: Put spaghetti on stove. Step 2: Let spaghetti cook on stove. Step 3: If spaghetti burns, punch stove, then repeat step 1-2." She read.

She was about to show her the second page, "Recipe for Cooking Mafia Stew," when the old man came back from the storage closet.

"Sorry, Kiddo. Looks like I don't have anything like that." He said.

Hat Kid looked disappointed. The hat didn't always tell her where the Time Piece was. Sometimes, it just told her where it would be. This meant she would have to wait until the Time Piece showed up.

She walked back over to the girl in red, continuing to look at her "Mafia Cooking" magazine.

"Step 1. Put in meat. Step 2. Put in spaghetti. Step 3. Cook food. These guys really like spaghetti."

Hat Kid shrugged. It was probably the only dish those bozos knew how to cook somewhat decently.

The doorbell rang, and Hat Kid looked behind her. There stood a man in a bowler hat, along with some familiar men in red ties. Her eyes widened as one of them looked at her.

The man with a bowler had approached the old man at the counter. "Do you know how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?" He asked as one of the men pulled a gun on him.

"Please! Just take my Lien and leave!" The old man pleaded.

"Shhh!" The man with the bowler shushed. "We're not here for your money." He turned to the men. "Grab the dust."

The man that spotted her walked over to the man with the bowler and whispered something in his ear.

"Uh huh? I see." He said. "Bag the kid, too. Those who cross with Roman Torchwick's gang will pay."

Hat Kid's eyes widened, as one of the henchmen pounced on her, tying her hands behind her back, and carrying her football-style to the front of the store.

"You caused me a lot of trouble back at the bar, my dear." The man, now known as Roman, told her in a sing-song voice. "I'll make sure you pay it back full, in advance!"

He returned to study a red crystal, until one of the henchmen flew through the window. Everyone including Hat Kid turned towards the back. Another henchman went to the back where the girl was, holding a gun out. There was a flash, as the girl pounced on the man and flew with him out of the store. Hat Kid looked towards the girl in red, as she produced a huge red scythe.

Hat Kid used this as her opportunity to escape for the second time today, kicking the man holding her and running as fast as she could out the window toward the girl in red.

She smiled at Hat Kid. "You alright there?" She asked.

Hat Kid nodded.

"Good. Stay behind me." She instructed, as she swung her scythe. Hat Kid decided this was a good idea to equip new Badges. She put the Scooter Badge back in her hat, then took out the Projectile Badge. A blue tip of energy seared on her umbrella before dissipating.

The girl in red noticed this. "Or you can fight. Either one is fine."

"Okaay…" Roman said, looking at his henchmen. "Get them!"

The henchmen ran right at the duo. Hat Kid equipped the Sprint Hat, dashing around and hitting them with her umbrella. Every so often she would swap out for the Brewing Hat and hit them with a potion. The girl in red moved like a human wrecking ball, swinging her body in-tune with her scythe, hitting henchmen left and right. She and Hat Kid landed back to back, with Hat Kid sending one back with a Projectile Blast, the girl knocking a man down with her scythe.

"We make a pretty good team, Kid." She said. "I'm Ruby, by the way. Ruby Rose."

"Hat Kid." Was her reply.

"Hat Kid, huh? Think my sister might have said something about meeting a kid with a hat in the club." Ruby said, as she knocked someone down. "Says you're looking for shiny hourglasses?"

Hat Kid nodded as she pummelled a henchman with her umbrella. This must be Yang's sister.

"I think that guy in the bowler hat has one." She said, pointing at Roman.

Hat Kid looked at him. He definitely looked like someone who would be looking for those kinds of things.

Ruby knocked the last guy down with a blow to the gut, sending him flying towards Roman.

"You were worth every cent. Truly, you were." Roman muttered. "Well, ladies, I think we can all say this has been an eventful evening. And as much as I'd love to stick around, I'm afraid this…"

He pointed his cane right at Hat Kid. A targeting sight appeared on the end of it.

"Is where we part ways."

Ruby dove in front of Hat Kid, attempting to block the shot. The round exploded at her feet, sending her in the air and Hat Kid back.

Ruby landed back on the ground, and ran over to Hat Kid.

"C'mon, sidekick!" She said, helping her up. "I can't have you quit on me that easily."

She turned to the top of a building nearby, seeing that Roman was making his way up the access ladder. She turned to the shopkeeper.

"You okay if we go after him?" She asked.

"Yes." The man replied.

She gently scooped up Hat Kid and leapt into the air, onto the building.

There was Roman, running towards the edge of the building. Ruby set Hat Kid on the ground, and pointed her scythe at him. Hat Kid pulled out her umbrella and charged her Projectile Blast.

"Hey!" She shouted.

Roman stopped and looked at the ground. "Persistent." He mumbled.

Just then, a huge airship-looking thing flew out from above the building. Hat Kid questioned how it was not made of wood yet still flying.

It shone a bright light at them, about as bright as the "Epilepsy-Inducing" setting on Hat Kid's camera. She covered her eyes. When she opened them, Roman had climbed onto the craft and held a red crystal in his hands.

"End of the line, ladies!" He shouted, before throwing it on the ground at their feet. Hat Kid had a bad feeling about this. Roman raised his cane once more, firing a round directly at the dust crystal. Hat Kid opened her umbrella, hoping to shield herself and Ruby from the blast.

The round went off and exploded the crystal. Roman laughed at the scene, before seeing that the two were perfectly intact. Standing in front of them was an old woman in a white shirt and purple cape. She had some sort of purple symbol, like the one Weiss had, which appeared to have shielded them from the blast.

The symbol disappeared, and the woman hummed. She then waved a wand in her hand, sending purple lines racing at the ship, damaging it.

Hat Kid decided to pitch in, charging her own Projectile Blast to red, unleashing a torrent of fire that made Ruby's eyes go wide as plates.

The blast missed unfortunately. The woman glanced at the child for a brief moment. "Work on your aim, maybe, hmm?"

Hat Kid shrugged. Her umbrella didn't exactly come with a sight.

The woman shot another purple line from her wand, this one going up to the sky and making the clouds darken. Out from the clouds came icicles, falling on the ship and stabbing right into it. The ship had started to falter, when a woman walked out in the ship's cabin. She let loose a blast of fire from her hand, the older woman deflected it with her wand abilities. She then did a move where the ground from under the older woman turned red-hot. The older woman leapt out of the way as a plume of rocks erupted from the building.

The older woman used her wand powers to stack the rocks into the shape of an arrow, then shot it at the woman on the plane, who retaliated by firing more fireblasts at it. The older woman's magic was stronger, however, and it managed to get to the plane. It split into several rock arrows, and grazed the ship as they circulated it.

The woman then released a circle of orange that melted all the rocks.

Ruby and Hat Kid joined in, Ruby firing rounds from her scythe, Hat Kid shooting Projectile Blasts. The woman managed to Ruby's shots, but the Projectile Blasts seemed to take her off guard, knocking her back.

The ground beneath them turned orange. Ruby immediately scooped up Hat Kid and jump-rolled to the side, away from the orange spots, which erupted more firey rocks.

This distraction allowed for the ship to escape, unfortunately.

The woman then turned to Ruby.

"You're a huntress?" Ruby asked. "Can I have your autograph?"

The woman gestured towards her and Hat Kid. "You two, come with me. Now." She ordered firmly.

_Aw shucks. She was going to be a Weiss, wasn't she?_ Hat Kid thought. She pulled out her keychain, only for it to float away from her hands, a purple glow illuminating it.

"You won't be needing that, my dear. We'd like you to stay and chat for a while." The older woman said, taking the keychain.

Hat Kid's eye twitched, before glaring at the woman and pressing a button on her side. A backup teleport, in case she lost the keychain. A green glow illuminated her, and in a second, it was gone, Hat Kid with it.

Ruby's eyes were once again wide as plates. "Did you know that was going to happen?"

"We had our suspicions." The older woman replied. "Another time, then."


	5. Antidepressant for Miss Rose

**Chapter 5:**

Hat Kid sat on the floor of her room. She had blown her chance to get that Time Piece! She felt terrible. Every time she went through a door, she always returned with one. But this time, she would come back empty handed. Maybe she could try to see if there were any more?

She shrugged, going to the diving board above the sea of pillows. She was about to dive in, when she saw the pillows move. Her eyes flickered. Who was there? Was it Blake?

Emerging from the pillows was not Blake, but the older woman. Peck! She forgot to override the teleport system for the keychain! The ship blared with red sirens.

_INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!_

"Well." The woman said, climbing up from the pillows. "It seems I've made my presence known."

While Hat Kid was okay with most people entering and leaving her ship, this one in particular made her a little annoyed. She gave a loud whistle. From every corner of the ship came a variety of deadly-looking weapons, all pointed at the older woman. Hat Kid crossed her arms and pointed at the pillow fort, making it clear she wanted her to get out.

The woman raised her hands. "Easy there. I'm not going to hurt you. Or...yell at you. I'd just like to talk."

Hat Kid thought about this for a moment. She did save her and Ruby back there. She snapped her fingers, and the weapons all went back into the ceiling.

"Well, not me. But someone else." She said.

"Glynda, could you assist me in getting out of this place? I'm not as strong as I used to be." Came a muffled voice.

"Of course, Headmaster." The woman, known as Glynda, replied. She used her purple-wand magic to lift some pillows out of the way.

An old man, with a green scarf on and glasses, climbed out of the pillow pile.

"Ah, in my childhood days, I would have been all over this place." He remarked, brushing himself off.

"Wouldn't we all?" Glynda replied.

The man looked at Hat Kid. "So, you're the small one who beats up henchmen and sword-wielding armoured assassins for a living?" He asked.

Hat Kid shrugged. A day in the life.

"What is your name, little one?" The man said.

"Hat Kid."

"Hat Kid? Fits the job description, I see." The man replied. "I am Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy."

Hat Kid nodded. She walked over to the door, gesturing for him to follow.

The door wasn't exactly tall enough to let a full-grown man and woman in. They had to bend down and walk through.

They studied the Main Hall with interest.

"Interesting. So this is your base of operations. Very interesting." Ozpin said, looking at the planet through the glass of the ship. "This is definitely not our planet. How did you get to ours?"

Hat Kid shrugged. Peck if she knew."

"Hmm. And I understand you've been looking for these?" Ozpin asked, pulling out a Time Piece.

Hat Kid nodded.

"Here you are, then." He said, tossing her the hourglass.

"Headmaster, are you sure about this?" Glynda asked. "These items have immense potential for power."

"Which is exactly why I want them as far away from Remnant as possible." Ozpin replied. "There is no one we know of on Remnant who wouldn't abuse this. I would. You would. The White Fang would. Roman Torchwick would. Ironwood would."

Glynda nodded. "We all have a past we want to undo." He continued. "But when the chance comes to do so, I daresay the outcome would be much better if we had simply dreamed about it."

"You speak words of wisdom, Headmaster. Then I too, feel comfortable leaving them in your care." She said to the child.

"I invite you to come down to Beacon Academy to collect more whenever it'd be convenient for you." Ozpin offered. "And as I understand it, some of your friends have enrolled in the school. Feel free to have them help you in your adventures."

Hat Kid smiled. She tipped her hat to him as a way of saying thanks. She then opened up the vault door and tossed it in.

_New Area unlocked!_ The ship's computerized voice chirped.

Hat Kid's eyes turned to a door.

"Well, I see you have other matters to attend to. Be seeing you, then." He said. "Oh, before I forget, could you help me work this thing?"

He held out the keychain. "I could only make it transport me here. I can't seem to get it to place me anywhere else."

Hat Kid looked at the keychain. It didn't work because he had to teleport to the ship before he could teleport anywhere else. She pressed the button with a red rose on it.

"Huh. Strange. That symbol is on Miss Rose's skirt, if I'm not mistaken." Ozpin remarked.

Hat Kid blinked. He was right! But, then, what did that mean? Did that mean Ruby was going to be important in helping her get the Time Pieces back?

The green light came once again, placing them in an office somewhere.

Ruby sat on one of the chairs. She smiled when she saw her sidekick.

"Hat Kid! You came back!" She said. Hat Kid high-fived her, before turning back to the Headmaster.

"Here. I don't think I'll be using it again. The pillow-pile is a no for me." Ozpin said, tossing Hat Kid the keychain.

"Pillow-pile? What? Where?" Ruby asked with an excited tone.

Hat Kid winked at her, before pressing the spaceship button. In a flash of green, she disappeared.

"Aww, I wanted to see the pillow-pile." Ruby said.

"You'll get another chance, I'm sure. Hat Kid will definitely be around much more now that we've had a little talk. Feel free to help her out on her adventures. For now, you'd best get prepared for Initiation."

Back in the spaceship, Hat Kid flipped onto the seat of the control station. She pressed a few buttons. The ship whirred and clicked. Her Time-O-Tron-2003 appeared to be functioning properly. It should now be daytime on Remnant. Theoretically, of course.

Pressing the red rose symbol, she teleported back. She took in her surroundings. Instead of an office, she found herself in front of a tall, massive building. It looked like a castle. Around her, teenagers walked around, sat together, talked, walked while talking, and some had the bravery to sit while talking.

She looked around. Surely, she would find her friends in this crowd, right?

A ship, similar to the one Roman had escaped in, landed on the ground behind her. A crowd of people got off. Hat Kid found herself lost in the much taller people walking around her. Some glanced at her, wondering what a small child was doing on Beacon campus. She then heard a conversation between two people.

"I'm telling you, I saw a green flash of light! It's totally Hat Kid!" Said a familiar voice. Ruby!

"Who-who's Hat Kid again?" Groaned a male voice.

"Oh, you haven't met her yet. She kicks butt!" Ruby replied. Hat Kid ran towards the two voices.

The voices came from outside of the crowd, over to a bench and tree.

There she was! Standing right next to a guy who...didn't look too good. She ran right up.

"That's her! Hat Kid! Hi!" She yelled, rushing over in a flurry of red petals. She snatched up the child, embracing her.

"I missed you, Kid!" She said. "Well, I know it's been only a day, but today's been a little rough. Glad you came back like the Headmaster said you would."

Hat Kid gave Ruby a thumbs up. Ruby then put her down. "So, this is Jaune Arc. He's had a bad morning too. Motion sickness is a real fiend I tell you."

Ruby looked around. "Yang ran off with her friends, so I guess we can just look around for a bit. We might even find one of those hourglasses you like so much."

Hat Kid wanted to make Ruby feel better, and their newfound friend Jaune. She pulled out her keychain, holding it up to Ruby.

"So this is that thing that lets you teleport? Cool, how does it work?"

Hat Kid shrugged. She bought it off of a website.

"Hmm, this button has my belt symbol on it. Weird. What does that mean?" She asked.

Hat Kid shrugged again. She beckoned for Jaune to come over.

"What?" He asked, sluggishly moving towards them.

"Hat Kid wants to show us something. I think." She said.

Jaune sighed. "Alright, as long as it keeps my mind away from this stupid herberbebr…"

Hat Kid put her hand on the keychain, then placed Ruby's on it. Ruby nodded in understanding.

"Put your hand on the keychain." She told Jaune. Jaune did as he was told. Hat Kid then pressed a button on the chain. Jaunes eyes went wide as plates as a green light enveloped the trio before disappearing. There they stood, in a candlelit room, with a desk and a not-shiny hourglass on the desk.

"Oooh! This is an interesting little hideout." Ruby said.

"What on Remnant is going on?" Jaune asked to no one in particular.

Hat Kid jumped up from the fort to a hole in the ceiling, which was covered by pillows.

"Pillow-pile!" Ruby exclaimed as she followed, burying herself in what she saw to be a sea of pillows. "C'mon, Jaune! It's a pillow-pile!"

"H-How old are you?" Jaune chastised, before jumping up into the pillows. It felt like an ocean of soft fuzz. He found the surface, and quickly stepped out onto the carpeted floor. To him, it looked like a kid's wonderland. There was a diving board over the pile of pillows, which Hat Kid was jumping off of, landing in the pile doing a cannonball.

"Oh, this is amazing! Ruby shouted as she surfaced. "It's like my childhood dreams about an ocean of pillows come true!"

"You had those kinds of dreams too?" Jaune asked "I thought I was just weird."

Hat Kid crawled out onto the floor, then gestured towards the hallway door. They followed the child through the purple hallway.

"Woah!" Ruby gasped, as she took in the Main Hall. "Are we in a spaceship?!"

Hat Kid nodded, gesturing towards the window.

"Hmm, that doesn't look like Remnant." She said.

Jaune just stared with a blank expression. "I can't tell whether I'm reliving a nightmare or a dream."

Ruby looked behind her at the second floor at the vault, then at the screen with the hourglass.

"Hmmm, so those hourglasses power the ship?" Ruby said.

Hat Kid nodded.

"So that's what you need them for." She said, putting a hand to her chin. "Well, mind if we help? Jaune?"

"Yeah, sure." Jaune said. "I guess."

Hat Kid pointed to a door with a camera on it. She then ran right through the door. Ruby and Jaune followed. Inside was a double ramp that lead to a box, which had a telescope on top. There were gears turning everywhere, and strange machines making all sorts of noises. Ruby started to walk over.

"WHO IS THIS!?"

"Wahh!" She yelped, jumping back. The voice belonged to a jar, a JAR of all things. It had purple stuff inside it, with eyes, a nose, and mustache swimming inside it. On top of the jar was a large chef hat.

"W-Who are you?!" She asked.

"_Me? I am the most powerful man in Mafia Town!_" The jar replied in a deep booming voice. Hat Kid rolled her eyes and hopped over.

"You're pretty, uh, contained for someone who's so powerful." Ruby said, wincing a little that she just made a pun.

"_Shut up, slightly older rude little girl! Had I gotten my body back, I would teach you AND that snot-nosed brat a lesson in Mafia mmhphmhpm!"_ His shouting became muffled as Hat Kid covered the jar in a towel, then brought it over to a barrel nearby. Opening it, she tossed the jar in, closed the barrel, then dusted off her hands.

She then jumped back up to the crate, beckoning for the two to join her. Ruby stepped up to the telescope first, taking a peek. The telescope was focused on a particular part of the planet, one that was littered with canyons. She could see by squinting that there was a railroad system on it.

She stopped looking through, gesturing to Jaune to go next.

"What do you think?" Ruby asked Jaune.

"Uhh, I don't really know. What do you think?" Jaune replied.

"I think we're gonna go get some shiny hourglasses!" Ruby cheered.

Hat Kid held out her keychain again. The trio gathered their hands on the chain. She then pressed a button with a symbol that looked like a movie projector.

After the green flash, they found themselves on top of a building. It wasn't Vale, they could tell. Below them was a crowd of small creatures she couldn't make out. Hat Kid gestured to the top of another building, jumping over. Ruby and Jaune followed.

When they got to the top both her and Jaune gasped. In front of them was a penguin with an afro on, dance shoes, sunglasses, and a disco shirt.

"Wha...what?" Ruby said.

The penguin then spoke.

"Hello, darling. Did you bring some friends along? Wonderful, darling. They'll make fine additions to the cast!"

"Uh...uh…" Ruby stuttered. "H-Hi! I'm Ruby!"

"Greetings, darlings. My name is DJ Grooves, superstar, dancer, and legendary movie producer this side of FUB. I've tasked myself with making our young charge here a moviestar!" The penguin replied.

"C-cool. Sorry, just getting over the fact that there's talking birds." Jaune said.

"Well of course, darling. All penguins can talk, dontcha know?" DJ Grooves asked. "Now then, let's make ourselves an award-winner! We're about to record 'The Big Parade', the movie that'll take the breath away from audiences worldwide!"

Ruby's eyes sparkled. "A parade?! Can I be in it? Please?"

"Of course, darling. But that outfit…is not parade uniform. Can you take this outfit and get dressed?" He asked, tossing her a parade outfit.

"Sure thing." Ruby said, rushing over to a bathroom. Hat Kid followed.

"What about me?" Jaune asked.

"What about you darling? Maybe you'd like to get one on too?" DJ Grooves said, tossing him another one.

Ruby stepped out of the bathroom in her new attire, a shiny parade uniform with a bird hat on. Hat Kid soon stepped out.

"Omigosh you look adorable!" Ruby exclaimed, hugging the child.

Jaune walked over, he was in a parade uniform too. His hat was a little more slim.

"Nice treads." She said.

"You too." Jaune replied.

They went back to the building with DJ Grooves.

"You look great, darlings." He complimented. "The band here will follow you. Make sure to keep a steady pace and don't let 'em bump into you."

"Sounds good." Ruby said.

"The parade lasts a while; nothing you can do to speed it up. We'll let you all know when we've got enough footage. Don't lose spirit!"

He then hopped over to a moving platform with a band set and keyboards.

"Good luck darlings!" He said.

A penguin walked up to them with a movie camera. "Ready, Action!"

The parade was a blast. Ruby twirled a flag, Jaune threw out handfuls of confetti, and Hat Kid lead the way, leaping from building to building. The band played a catchy tune. Everything was ablaze with flashy sparks, and at one point, DJ Grooves had asked Hat Kid to turn on firework guns.

"Hey!" Jaune said, feeling loopy from all the noise.

"Yeah?" Ruby asked, looking back at her friend.

"We're...We're leading a parade of birds." He said, laughing.

"Yep. We totally are." Ruby said smiling back at Jaune. "Kinda makes you dispose of the idea that Faunus are different from us."

"Yeheheyeah!" Jaune said. He felt like a child again. When did he feel this giddy ever?

"Time to release the parade surprise!" DJ Grooves yelled. "Grab it, darlings!"

Ruby looked up at the party ball above the main building. It opened, dropping out a Time Piece.

"Hat Kid, that's one of those hourglasses!" She said.

Hat Kid nodded, leading the parade over to the main building. She picked up the Time Piece and placed it under her hat. The owl band finished a final note, then put their instruments away.

"That was fantastic, darling! With the footage we captured, the Annual Bird Award is as good as mine! The Conductor's gonna see this and weep, darling." DJ Grooves said, hopping over. "Why don't you keep that movie prop, darling? You do seem to like those so much."

Hat Kid tipped her hat, before pulling out her keychain. Ruby and Jaune put their hands on the keychain, and they flashed back on the ship.

"Wow. That was so cool. Thanks for taking us on a wild parade, Hat Ki-" She stopped and looked over. Hat Kid was plastered on the floor, sleeping.

"Huh. Well then." She said.

Ruby scooped up the child, walked back over to her bedroom, and placed her underneath the blankets. She tucked the blankets over her, running her hands through her hair. She then placed a light kiss on the girl's head.

"Goodnight, Hat Kid." She said softly. She turned to Jaune.

"Let's go home, then."

"Guess she's as tired as we look." Jaune said, his eyes having bags.

"Yeah, no kidding." Ruby agreed.

They approached the pillow sea.

"PILL-wait. _Pillow pile._" She said, whispering at the end, sliding into the secret pillow fort. Jaune followed. They entered the door with the rose on it.

Ruby found she had opened the door into a large room. She was back in Beacon. Jaune stood behind her.

"Oh, there's Yang!" She said, making her way over to her sister, who was lying down by her bed.

"Ruby, where were you? They had us going over Initiation! You missed it!" She said.

"Yang, my dear sister, if I had told you, you would probably say I drank expired milk again." Ruby replied.

"Oh really?" Yang asked.

"We went on an adventure with Hat Kid." She said.

"You mean that kid with a hat?" Yang replied.

"No, her name is Hat Kid." Ruby said. "She told me."

"She talks?"

"Well, not very often. Mostly points, shrugs, and nods." Ruby said. "Silent but deadly. I respect it."

"So, how's it been with your first day at Beacon?" Yang asked.

Ruby groaned. "Why did you have to bring that up?"

"That bad, huh?"


	6. The Giant Goat Saves Them All

**Chapter 6 :**

Hat Kid yawned and stretched out of her bed. How did she get in her room? She blinked as she realized Ruby or Jaune must've brought her here.

She got up and went to the TV, using the finder to check in on Blake. It looked as though she and Yang were together, beating up black monsters with masks on.

Hat Kid decided she would take a small break from Remnant today, as she needed to get some Time Pieces from Alpine Skyline.

_2 hours later…_

A green flash of light appeared in the Emerald Forest in front of Yang and Blake. Blake stopped. She knew exactly who it was.

"Hat Kid!" She exclaimed.

The child in question was covered from head-to-toe in soot. The tip of her hat was burning. Her clothes were burned and she wore a look of pure irritation.

Blake's eyes widened. She rushed over with Yang. "Are you alright? What happened?" She said worriedly.

"You know the kid too?" Yang asked.

Blake nodded. "She gave me a place to stay for a while." She then bent down over the child. She then noticed a small, gray bird with orange eyes sneaking up behind her.

"Uh, Hat Kid, there's a-" Blake said, before she was cut off by Hat Kid whipping out her umbrella. Without looking away, she pointed it right at the bird and used her Projectile Blast to send a yellow beam of energy at it. Blake and Yang's eyes went wide as plates in surprise. The blast finished, and where the bird stood was a pile of ash.

"Hmm, had a bad day?" Yang said, sitting down on the grass and looking at her. She put her hands on Hat Kid's shoulders. Hat Kid looked up to her.

"Ruby told me you helped her out when she had a bad day yesterday." Yang remarked. "Why don't we return the favor?"

Hat Kid's frown turned back into her usual cheery smile. She grabbed the keychain and held it out.

Yang patted her head and shook hers. "Oh, maybe some other time, Kiddo. We're sort of in the middle of Initiation. Tell you what, why not help us kick monster butt? It reduces stress big time!"

Hat Kid nodded. Anything to take a break.

"What did you do to make yourself look like that?" Blake asked.

Hat Kid pulled out her camera and showed her a picture of three layers of molten magma, the top layer had large stone candles protruding on all sides.

"Huh. Lava cake." Blake commented. "Quite literally."

They continued onwards into the forest. Walking into a clearing, they came across some stone ruins. Inside the ruins stood a circle of pedestals.

"Think this is it?" Yang asked Blake. Blake shrugged, before walking over. Yang and Hat Kid followed.

"Chess pieces?" Blake said looking at the items on the pedestal. Hat Kid eyed the pieces with curiosity.

"Some of them are missing. Looks like we weren't the first ones here." Yang observed.

"Well, I guess we should pick one."

Yang looked up at a pedestal in the middle. Her eyes widened. "Hat Kid! Look!" She said pointing to it.

On top of the pedestal stood a Time Piece. A note on it read: "To be only acquired by the following person:" The note then had a picture of Hat Kid drawn on it. "By request of Headmaster Ozpin." The note finished.

"Well, there you go." Blake said. "All yours."

Hat Kid jumped up on the pedestal and grabbed it, putting in her hat. As she lifted her hat, a familiar mustached purple jar fell out. It took the hourglass right out of the hat and landed on it.

Hat Kid seemed surprised at first, but then visibly annoyed.

"What is that?" Blake asked, arching an eyebrow.

"_HAHAHAHAA! It is I, the MAFIA BOSS! And I am going to finally have my revenge, using the power of my newly acquired Time Piece!" _The jar said.

"Uhhh...What?" Yang asked, clearly unsure how to react.

Hat Kid rolled her eyes. "Peck neck…" She muttered within earshot of both Yang and Blake. She then rolled up her sleeves, pulled out her umbrella, and marched over to the jar.

"_Ahh, what're you going to do, rude little girl, stop me? It's essentially hopeless! I have all the power in the world with this Time Piece!" _The jar taunted.

Hat Kid simply picked up the jar.

"_Hey, wait! That's cheating! You can't do that! Let go! I'll bite! I have teeth in this jar...somewhere…" _

"Hat Kid, you have some of the wierdest rivals." Blake remarked.

Yang chuckled. "They're like siblings, it's so adorable."

"Yeah, it is. Back to the task at hand." Blake replied.

"Rrright, how 'bout a cute little pony?" Yang asked as she selected a white knight piece.

"Sure." Blake said.

At this point, Hat Kid was stringing together a little sack with a string attached. Due to her ability to stitch and sew at lightning speed, it was done within seconds. She then plopped the jar inside the sack, putting the string around her like a bandeloir so that the sack was slung tightly behind her.

"_What is this?!" _The jar demanded_. "Are you attempting to imprison me?! I will NOT-Oh, wait, it actually feels quite nice in here. Very roomy, and lets air through too. I think. I'll just...give revenge...a couple...mmmore…mmmmmmhh." _

Blake couldn't help but smile at how innocent the scene was. Hat Kid was something special for sure.

"Well, looks like we pass Initiation." Yang said. "That wasn't too hard."

"Well, it's not like this place is very difficult to find." Blake replied.

"Ready to go, Hat Kid?" Yang asked the child.

A distant scream rang out from the forest.

"Some girl's in trouble!" Yang exclaimed. "Blake, did you hear that?"

Blake's eyes focused upwards, on a familiar girl in red falling out of the sky.

"Heads uuuuuup!" She shouted, before a familiar blonde boy slammed right into her, sending them into a tree.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked.

"I…" Yang began, but was cut off by a huge bear coming out of the trees. It snarled and waved its paws, before a pink flash of light struck it from behind.

"Yeeehaww!" A girl's voice shouted.

The bear collapsed in a heap. A girl with ginger hair and a hammer slid off the back of the bear.

"Aww, it's broken." She whined.

A boy in green slumped over the back.

"Nora, please. Don't ever do that again." The boy said.

The girl, Nora, walked over to a pedestal and picked up a white rook piece. She then belted out a musical number.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

"Nora!" The boy shouted.

"Coming, Ren." She said, bolting over.

Hat Kid was quite confused as to what was happening, which was normal. She was surprised the Mafia Boss was able to sleep with all this racket.

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked.

"I…"

A roar echoed through the forest, as they turned to see a girl in spartan armor being chased by a giant scorpion.

"Jaune!" The girl shouted.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune said.

"Woah!" Ruby exclaimed, jumping off the tree.

"Ruby!"

"Ruby?" Yang asked.

"Yang!" Ruby said, about to double high-five her.

"Nora!" Nora shouted, getting in between Ruby and Yang.

Pyrrha and the scorpion were getting closer.

"Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" Blake asked.

Yang's hair started to catch fire and her eyes turned red.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" She shouted. "Can everyone just chill out for 2 seconds before something crazy happens?"

"_AHH! I'm awake! What's happening!?" _

Everyone turned to the little girl.

"A child?" The boy known as Ren asked.

"Hat Kid!" Ruby said, scooping up the child and embracing her as she did before.

"_Woah! Hey! Easy there, there's two of us!"_

Hat Kid pulled the jar out of her sack.

"Oh, hey Mafia jar guy. Sup?" Ruby asked.

"Ruby, are you friends with a talking jar?" Yang said.

"_WEEEE, are not 'friends'!"_ The jar said angrily. _"The ONLY reason I have not killed every single one of you and had your heads mounted on my wall, is that I have no body." _

"Aw, cheer up. You've got a nice comfy sack there Hat Kid made for you. You should be grateful." Ruby chastised.

"_And you ruined it, you loud annoying noisy little…" _The jar continued to rant and rave.

Ruby rolled her eyes, then focused on the sky. Her eyes widened.

"Um...guys?" She said, pointing upwards.

Hat Kid looked up to see Weiss holding onto a huge bird.

"How could you leave me?!" She shouted.

"I said jump." Ruby said.

"She's gonna fall." Blake remarked.

"She'll be fine." Ruby assured her.

"She's falling." Ren said.

Jaune leapt out of the tree to catch her.

"Just dropping in?" He quipped.

Unfortunately, they were both in mid-fall when he caught her, and they both plummeted to the ground.

Jaune planked it on the ground, and Weiss landed on top of him.

"My hero." She said unenthusiastically.

The girl in spartan armor, Pyrrha, rolled over to the group to avoid the Deathstalker.

"Great, the gang's all here." Yang said. "Now we can all die together."

"_Child…"_ The jar whispered into Hat Kid's ears. _"Take us back. Now."_

Hat Kid shrugged the jar off. She wasn't about to abandon her friends. Unless...She could get a little bit of outside help.

She pulled out her keychain. Ruby looked at her.

"Hat Kid, you're leaving?" She asked sadly.

"She probably should. It's not safe here." Blake remarked.

Ruby sighed and put her on the ground. "Well, hope to see you again. Bye Hat Kid."

Hat Kid pressed the spaceship button and flashed away.

"Who was that child?" Pyrrha asked. "And what just happened?"

"It's a long story…" Ruby said.

"We'll tell you after we die." Jaune said.

"Not if I can help it." Ruby assured, before charging in at the Deathstalker.

"Ruby, wait!" Yang shouted. But it was too late. The Deathstalker launched Ruby back. She shot a round before running back over.

Yang ran in. Up above, the Nevermore shot a flurry of razor sharp feathers, one catching Ruby by her cape.

"Ruby, get out of there!" Yang shouted.

"I'm trying!" Ruby said, attempting to free herself. She then looked up at the Deathstalker. It's tail poised to strike.

"Ruby!" Yang yelled.

Then, in a flash of white, the Deathstalker was frozen.

"You are so childish."

"Weiss?" Ruby said, looking at her partner.

"And dimwitted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style." She continued. "And I suppose...I can be a bit difficult, but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be...nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off." Ruby said. "I want you to know I can do this."

"You're fine." Weiss replied, before walking off.

A crash rang out. Ruby and Weiss turned around. The Deathstalker had broken out of the ice.

Weiss attempted to create another glyph, but the Deathstalker was quicker. It grabbed both her and Ruby in its pincers.

"Nevermind!" Weiss shouted. "We're not fine!"

"Ruby!" Yang cried.

All of a sudden, a green flash of light, much larger than before, appeared right in front of the Deathstalker. When it dissipated Ruby's eyes were wide as plates, as was Yang's and Weiss's.

A huge, hulking goat-like bipedal creature stood towering over the scorpion, its eyes were glowing white as snow. It heaved a heavy sigh, before grabbing the tail of the Deathstalker. The Deathstalker screeched in panic, dropping the two girls. The creature then whirled the scorpion around with the tail as someone were to wind up a sling to fire, before throwing it over the mountains.

The Nevermore swooped in to attack the new arrival. But the goat creature was fast. It grabbed onto both its wings with its massive hands and ripped them off. The Nevermore screamed in pain, before succumbing to its wounds.

"Woohoo!" A cheer rang out. The goat knelt down, and a small creature in robes and a hood slid off of it, along with…

"Hat Kid!" Ruby exclaimed, running over. "I knew you wouldn't leave us that easily!" She gave her a huge hug.

Everyone else ran over as well.

"What is that monster?!" Weiss asked, pointing to the beast.

"Hokay, first, HE has a name." The creature with robes replied, voice thick with an accent. "Second, he's not a monster."

"Incredible. He just took out a Nevermore and a Deathstalker and didn't even sweat." Ren remarked.

"Ruby, Jaune, who is this child?" Pyhrra asked.

"This is Hat Kid." Ruby said.

"Oh, yes. The kid from the concert." Weiss remembered. "I hope you've saved up enough to pay off that 10,000 Lien."

Everyone gave her a blank look.

"You fined a space alien?" Ruby deadpanned.

"Don't be so silly. She interrupted my concert." Weiss huffed.

"She's a kid, Weiss. She probably can't even count to 10,000!" Ruby exclaimed.

"I hate to interrupt…" The cloaked creature said. "But those creatures don't look to be friendly."

The group turned to where the creature pointed. A Grimm horde of Ursa, Beowolves and two Nevermore came into the clearing.

"I don't think we'll be able to deal with that many." Ren said.

"You won't need to, friend. Hop on!" The creature replied, getting back on the behemoth.

"Are you sure about this?" Blake asked, climbing onboard.

"Don't worry, I got you covered. This is completely safe, provided you hang on tight." The creature reassured.

Everyone climbed on the giant goat.

"Alright, where are we headed?" The creature asked.

"We need to grab those chess pieces and then head to the cliffs." Ruby replied.

"That's a tall order there, Kiddo. But eh, who wants it easy?" The creature said. She then pulled out a wooden horn and blew it. "Let's ride, boy!"

The goat-creature ran to the ruins, its booming footsteps chucking dirt and grass everywhere.

"Better move fast, those things look angry." The creature advised.

Each pair grabbed a chess piece and then got back on the goat.

"Let's go, then!" The creature once again blew its horn, and the goat took off towards the cliffs.

Weiss looked behind and saw that the Grimm were keeping up.

"Can't this thing go any faster?!" She shouted.

"Only if you say please!" The creature quipped. It then pulled out its horn and blew a different tune. The goat started turning blue. The area around them filled with a green light.

"WHAT...IS...GOING...ON?!" Yang said.

"You wanted to get out of here fast, my friend!" The creature replied.

The green light dissipated, and in an instant, they were not standing in the Emerald Forest. Rather, a set of cliffs, situated high in the sky.

"Oh wow!" Ruby said, taking in the view. All around them were lines with banners on them, strung from trees, connecting to the sky islands. One sky island had a huge blue bell, the other a giant birdcage, another was a large windmill. And the last one…

"...Lava cake." Blake repeated. "Quite literally."

"What is this place?" Yang asked.

"Welcome, to Alpine Skyline!" The creature said. "It's my home!"

"It looks peaceful here." Ren observed, taking in the crisp air.

"Quiet too." Pyhrra added.

"Yeah, we're not very noisy up here." The creature said. "Here, we and the goats live together."

"There are more of you?" Jaune asked.

"Well, hyeah! I certainly didn't pop out of nowhere!" The creature joked. "Now then, I think I'm all set for the day. I've got to go home and give this guy a bath." The creature leaned into the group.

"He gets pretty anxious around lots of people." It whispered. "Feel free to take a look around. The goats here are pretty friendly, provided you don't make 'em angry. Oh, and take this horn! It'll take you back to your place. Just blow on it."

"Bye." Ruby said, waving to the creature as it walked over to a small group of houses.

"Well, we should get back to the Initiation. You coming, Hat Kid?" Jaune asked.

Hat Kid nodded.

"Alright. I'll blow the horn then." Yang said, taking the horn in her hands. She observed the green cloth tied around the mouthpiece, before taking a deep breath, and then blowing into it.

"Hey everyone whats going on?" Nora said suddenly. "OMIGOD WE'RE IN THE SKY! HOLY CRA-"

The same green light appeared, and before they knew it, they were back in Remnant, standing right in front of Headmaster Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch.

"O-Oh, Professor, Headmaster!" Weiss stammered. "We have the relics!"

"I see." Ozpin said. "Please, do go ahead and make your way to the Bullhead. We'll be departing shortly."

Everyone moved towards the Bullhead. Blake stopped.

"Hat Kid, wait."

Hat Kid looked at her.

"Where's the Time Piece?"

Hat Kid's eyes widened. She left it back at the ruins!

"I have it, Miss Belladonna." Ozpin said, taking out a shiny hourglass. "The one at the ruins was a fake. Hat Kid, if you could stay behind, I'd like to speak to you for a moment."

Hat Kid seemed confused, but nodded.

"Bye, Hat Kid." Blake said, kneeling down to her and patting her head. She then rose and walked to the Bullhead, leaving the three behind.

"...That, was not just a test for them, I think you realise by now." Ozpin started. "It was a test for you too. I wanted to be sure that you would understand priorities, and not abuse the agreement we had by simply taking the Time Pieces and leaving."

Hat Kid nodded in understanding.

"And I have to say, I was impressed. At first, I thought you had abandoned them. But instead, you came back. And that takes more selflessness than most people on Remnant." He complimented. "On behalf of Beacon, thank you for helping my students. And as promised, here is the first of many Time Pieces."

He then tossed over the hourglass. Hat Kid tipped her hat to the Headmaster, before flashing away.


	7. The Mafia Lunch Heist

**Chapter 7:**

Hat Kid stood at the caboose of the Owl Express, looking over the distant canyons. It was not as technologically advanced as the train Blake had busted into, but it was much more roomier and comfortable.

"Lass!"

She turned around to come face to face with the Conductor.

"I heard from some very reliable Owls that yer've been bringin' DJ Grooooooves more actors!"

Hat Kid's eyes widened. Oh dear. The Conductor was not going to be happy today.

"Well then, if yer going ta give that lousy peck neck an inch, yer gonna give one ta me, understand?"

Hat Kid was confused as to what the Conductor was asking.

"You are gonna get me some actors too, capisce?" The Conductor clarified.

Hat Kid nodded.

"Good! Come back when you've got those actors!"

Hat Kid sighed, flashing back to her ship. She wanted to let her friends study, but she really had no choice. The Conductor wouldn't budge now that she had brought Jaune and Ruby to participate in DJ Grooves' movie. They weren't technically allowed to be there, as they weren't legally birds as Hat Kid was. So the Conductor promised not to call DJ Grooves out if he gave Hat Kid two extra passports to give to two actors who would participate in his movie.

Hat Kid had decided on asking Yang and Ruby to participate, as Yang hadn't been on an actual adventure with her yet, and Ruby seemed into making movies like what the Conductor made.

She flashed over, finding herself inside a bathroom. Walking out, she seemed to be inside a castle of some kind. She guessed this must be the place where Ruby and her friends studied.

Hat Kid looked down the hallway. It was really long for someone as small as she was, and there were rooms all over the place. How she could know which room Yang and Ruby were in was beyond her.

She switched to her Scooter Badge, and sped across the hallway. She sneaked into rooms through vents, hid behind plants, peeked through doorways, and grappled over chandeliers.

Her search was going nowhere. Where could they be?

"Hello there. Are you lost?"

Hat Kid turned around. A girl with bunny ears stood behind her, kneeling down so she was at eye level.

Hat Kid waved.

The girl smiled sweetly. "What's your name, little girl?"

"Hat Kid." The child said.

"Ah, of course. Fits the person." She remarked, giggling a little. "What're you doing in Beacon, Hat Kid? This is for big kids, you know."

Hat Kid pulled out one of the passports. It had a drawing of Yang on it in crayon.

"Federal Union of Birds Passport?" The girl questioned, looking at the book. "Well, I don't know anything about that, but that girl has class in the room I'm going to, which is about to end. Would you like to accompany me to the room?"

Hat Kid smiled.

"My name's Velvet. It's nice to meet you, Hat Kid."

They walked down the hallway, Velvet held Hat Kid's hand as they walked. They stopped at a door.

"Here it is, Professor Port's class." She said, looking through the viewing glass of the door. "Class appears to still be in session, but we can wait a bit."

Hat Kid was a little agitated. She didn't have time to wait. The Conductor would start the show without her, and she would lose her chance to get a Time Piece! Guess desperate times called for desperate measures.

She took out Ruby's passport and scribbled over it. Velvet looked over.

"Oh, that's so cute! Are you drawing me now? How adorable." She said, kneeling down to look at it.

Hat Kid then pulled out her keychain.

"What's that?" Velvet asked.

Hat Kid put her hand to it, and with a flash, they were on the ship.

Velvet's eyes were wide as plates. "Woah! Wait, what did you do?!" She exclaimed, looking at the diary room.

Another flash of green light, and they were on the Owl Express. The Conductor rose from the seat on the caboose.

"Ahh, yer broug-Wait, this isn't one of them. We agreed it'd be the lass in red and the lass in yellow, are you tryin' ta pull somthin'?" The Conductor asked.

"Is that a talking owl?" Velvet said, still completely blown away.

"Of course I'm a talkin' owl, ya peck neck!" The Conductor replied in his usual fashion. "All owls can talk! That's like askin' if I'm a talkin' cat!"

"What?"

"Anyways, this won't cut it, lass. No way insurance will buy that she's a bird." The Conductor said to Hat Kid.

Hat Kid looked down at the ground. In two flashes, they were back at Beacon.

"What just happened?" Velvet asked.

Hat Kid shrugged, tipped her hat as a way of saying goodbye, and then walked to the cafeteria.

"Velvet, where have you been? Class started 5 minutes ago!" A girl with sunglasses said, approaching her.

"Coco, this has been the weirdest 5 minutes of my entire life." Velvet replied.

Hat Kid ran over to the room, searching for Ruby or Yang. Not finding them, she ran into another hallway, before bumping into a box. She got up and looked to her side. There was Ruby, standing next to the Headmaster, talking. She seemed upset. Hat Kid beamed. Another chance to cheer her friend up would be icing on the cake for her.

"_HAHAHAHA!"_

Hat Kid turned to the box. Sitting on the box was the Mafia Boss, surrounded by a posse of Mafia members.

"_That's right, my loyal Mafia! Search those lunches for something useful! We will show rude teenagers what happens when they wake the Mafia Boss up!"_

He then turned to Hat Kid.

"_Ahh, the rude little child! I hope you're ready for my revenge! How you got here, you ask? Simple! I bought one of those keychains, and found the exact coordinates for this planet! And now, I am free to make these kid's lunches my own! As I have with many other things!" _

Mafia members rummaged through lockers, opened backpacks, and emptied lunch boxes into a giant sack.

Hat Kid wasn't about to let this fly.

"_Oh, what're you going to do? Poke me with that little umbrella? Actually, don't do that that's a bad idea and I'd hate for you to-OW!" _

Hat Kid whacked the jar onto the floor with her umbrella.

Each of the Mafia looked over at her.

"Mafia have a bad feeling about this." One of the Mafia spoke up.

"A leader isn't just a title you wear into battle, but a badge you wear constantly. If you are not always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do others have to follow you?" Ozpin continued on with his lecture with Ruby.

"You've been burdened with a daunting responsibility, Ruby. I advise you to take some time and think about how you will uphold it."

Ruby looked down at the ground, then over at Weiss, at the other side of the courtyard. She smiled. She was going to be the best leader, for _her._

"DOWN WITH THE MAFIA!"

Ruby and Ozpin looked down the hall to be treated with the sight of Hat Kid chasing several muscled men in mustaches, one of them carrying a purple jar, another had a huge sack slung over his shoulders, and occasionally food would come flying out of it.

"_What are you cowards running for?! Get over there and punch her!"_ The jar barked.

"Aaand, enter Hat Kid, stage left." Ruby quipped. "I guess this is one of my daunting responsibilities."

"Best to keep an eye on her, as much as I'm sure she's doing fine on her own." Ozpin said. "I think those men may have stolen some of the kid's lunches."

"You mean my chocolate milk's in there?!" Ruby said, eyes wide. "Those little punks!"

She chased after the horde. "Give me my chocolatey goodness, you unholy fiends!"

"Hmmm. Hopefully my mustard-and-smoked ham sandwich isn't in there." Ozpin muttered, walking back down the halls.

Ruby ran over to see Hat Kid and a Mafia member fighting over someone's sandwich, pulling it towards each other. Hat Kid released the sandwich.

"Haha! Mafia is superior to small child! Mafia knew all along!" The Mafia member cheered.

Hat Kid then bopped him on the head with her umbrella, causing the sandwich to fly into the air and land into her hand. She then put it inside of a lunch box.

"Is my chocolate milk in there?" Ruby asked, diving into the sack. She pulled out a brown carton.

"Yeees! It's here! Hat Kid!" She said, turning to the child. She saw that Hat Kid had once again planked it on the floor, fast asleep. All the Mafia members were gone, as well as the jar.

"Hmm. Again. Does she ever just go to bed?" She asked, scooping up the child. She walked back to the team dorms.

Placing her on the side of her bed, she dressed into pajamas, and grabbed her study materials. Then, doing as she did in Hat Kid's ship, she ran her fingers through her hair, before planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight, Hat Kid." She said. "Sweet dreams."

Weiss opened the door.

"Hello Ruby."

Ruby turned to her.

"Hey, Weiss. Hat Kid's taking a nap in our dorm, if that's okay." Ruby said.

"Fine by me, as long as she's sleeping in your bed." Weiss answered. She grabbed Ruby's empty coffee mug.

"How do you take your coffee?"

"I-I don't-" Ruby began.

"Answer the question." Weiss said, slightly stern.

"Uh, cream and five sugars!" Ruby spat out.

Weiss sighed. "Don't move." She ducked down, then returned with a full cup. "Here." She said, handing it to Ruby.

"Um, thanks Weiss." Ruby replied.

"Ruby, I think you have what it takes to be a good leader. Just know that I am going to be the best teammate you'll ever have." Weiss stated, pumping her fist. "Good luck studying."

She then went back down, before coming back up. "That's wrong, by the way."

"Hey Ruby?" She said, opening the door.

"Uh-huh?"

"I always wanted bunk beds as a kid." Weiss finished, before walking out.

Ruby smiled to herself, before returning to her study.

A green flash of light appeared throughout the dormroom.

"_Ahaha! I have found the annoying teen's secret base! Now, I am free to-ack!_"

Hat Kid immediately awoke and picked the jar up.

"_Hey, no! Put me down! This isn't funny anymore!"_

She went over to the window, opening it.

"_No, wait, don't drop me! AAAHHHHHHH!"_

She then hopped back on Ruby's bed, pulling out a keychain with a mustached face smeared on it in red paint. She clicked the green button.

"Nice one." Ruby said, patting her friend. "By the way, what were you doing. Y'know, before you saw them take my chocolate milk."

Hat Kid handed Ruby her passport.

"Federal Union of Birds?" Ruby asked, looking at it. "Does this mean I'm legally a bird now?"

Hat Kid shrugged. She pulled out Yang's.

"Oh, you got Yang one too? Interesting. Did you want some more help with those movie-making birds?"

Hat Kid nodded.

"Hmm, tell you what. Meet us at the courtyard next week, after first period. We'll be there. Then we can get you that Time Piece."

Hat Kid closed her eyes, lulling back to sleep.

"Good night again, Hat Kid." Ruby said, pulling the blankets over the child.


	8. The Myerrrderrr on The Owl Express!

**Guest: Sorry that you feel that way about it going nowhere. Please consider that this is the beginning of the story, and so it may not seem like there's really anything happening. But know that I have the plot worked out and that it will begin to develop soon. **

**TvTrope: I strive to make sure that I don't cut corners when I write stories, and I thank you for your constructive criticism. I'll make sure to correct that. **

**Christoperprime: Thank you for the kind words. I too was wondering why nobody had done a crossover for this. It seems like a crossover that would be interesting. **

**KingHoborg: Oh don't you worry, we'll get real spicy with the RWBY bad guys at the finale. Just you wait and see. Things will definitely heat up as the story progresses. **

**I was particularly anticipating writing this chapter, as the mission in this story is one of my favorites. Please enjoy: The Myerrrderrr on the Owl Express! It's going to be an unusually long chapter, so do take this time to get some provisions if you must.**

**Chapter 8**:

Hat Kid looked at her watch. It was about 15 minutes past Ruby's first period, and she knew the Conductor would be on his last straw. It had been a week since Ruby and Yang had started classes, and the Conductor was raving about getting Ruby and Yang to star in his new action hit.

"Hat Kid!"

She looked over to see Ruby and Yang walking over, along with Jaune.

"Hey, sorry we're late. We just had to pick up Jaune. He's been feeling a little down lately. Mind if he comes along?"

Hat Kid nodded. The Conductor wouldn't mind a third actor, even if Jaune didn't have a passport.

"Well, let's get this show on the road. Ready gang?" Yang asked.

Hat Kid held out the keychain. Everyone placed their hands on it.

With a green flash, they were back in the diary room.

"Ahh, after a day of cramming books, nothing's better than a good old fashioned adventure!" Yang exclaimed.

Ruby smiled. She then pounced into the pillow sea. "PILLOW PILE!"

"Pillow pile?" Yang repeated, jumping in after Ruby. Jaune followed.

"Ah man, this is so much better." Jaune said.

"Now are you feeling happy now that we've forced you to come along?" Ruby asked him.

"I...guess so. I mean, Cardin isn't that bad."

"Jaune, he's a bully." Ruby told him. "He wants you to think that way."

Hat Kid was about to jump off the diving board, when she realized the Conductor would be kept waiting.

She held out the keychain again, and the four friends flashed out of the ship.

"We're on a train!" Ruby said, peering at the caboose.

The caboose door opened.

"Ah! Welcome back, lassy! Yer've brought three, eh? Well, I can't say no ter more actors!" The Conductor said, stepping out. "I haven't written the script for me next movie yet, so we're not recordin'. I'll call for yer when the script is ready."

"Is that a talking owl?" Jaune asked.

"You people have no imagination." The Conductor deadpanned.

Hat Kid opened the caboose door and motioned for them to follow.

"Let's go check out this sweet ride!" Yang said, stepping inside.

Inside the caboose was a black bird in a heavy trench coat and fedora, standing next to a coal furnace. It seemed to notice the group and rushed over.

"Why, hello there, fellow owls." It said in a raspy voice. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting."

"Hey there." Ruby greeted.

"As you can tell, I am also an Express Owl. I do much hooting." It stated matter-of-factly.

"Or cawing." Yang joked.

The bird's eyes widened. "Um...no, that's what a crow would do. I am obviously an owl. No cawing happening. Only hooting."

"Alright, whatever floats your boat, I guess." Yang said.

"From one owl to another, we can share details, yes?" The cr-OWL asked.

"Uhhh…" Jaune let out.

"What is your uncle's sister's maiden name?" It continued.

"My uncle's sister's...wait, wouldn't that mean my-" Ruby mumbled, before Yang cut her off.

"Uhh, how about just uncle?" Yang said in a fake smile.

"Uhh, yeah! Just uncle would work?" Ruby added.

The owl looked at the ground. "Hmmm...let me defer to a fellow Express Owl on this matter. I will see if this is a viable option."

He ran over to a group of other "owls" and they whispered amongst themselves. He then ran back.

"After doing much hooting with my fellow owls, I have decided to instead ask for your uncle's maiden name."

"Whew. Disaster averted." Yang muttered.

"Do uncles have maiden names?" Jaune asked.

"I don't have a clue." Ruby said. "His name is Qrow."

The owl went wide eyed again and started to sweat. "Ummm...Crow, as in…?"

"It's spelled with a 'Q'." Yang told him.

"Ah, yes. Of course. Qrow. It makes much more sense now. Of course, yes. I see, I see. This is the kind of uncle's maiden name I would expect from a fellow Express Owl." The owl rambled. It then ran right out the door.

"Interesting crowd." Yang commented.

"Why did he ask you that information?" Jaune asked. "That was kind of personal to be honest."

"Well, it's not like they have a train stop at Vale Station." Ruby said.

"True, but what's he going to do with it?" Jaune replied.

They walked up to the door of the next car. Another "owl" stood in their way.

"Hello, fellow Express Owls. Did you know that having a pet helps improve self-confidence and relieves stress?" It asked.

"I wouldn't doubt it." Ruby said.

"Did you also know that pets can have pets? It is true!" The owl exclaimed. "Unfortunately, us Express Owls are not allowed to have pets. It is a sacrifice we must make in the name of hooting. But, if you had a pet, what do you think the name of your pet's childhood pet would be?"

"Oh, I have a dog named Zwei, he's the best." Ruby answered.

"And what's Zwei's pet's name?" The owl asked.

"Uhh, wait what?" She said, confused. "You mean what would my pet's pet be named? That doesn't make any sense."

"Of course it does, to fellow Express Owls." The owl replied. "Are you telling me you are not an Express Owl?"

Yang, Ruby, and Jaune's eyes turned wide as plates.

"U-u-uh, yeah! Totally! I mean, no, I'm totally not...NOT an Express Owl. I love being an Express Owl, you kidding me?" Ruby stammered.

"Hmm...So then what is your answer?" The owl asked her.

"Uhh just go with Fluffy!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Fluffy is certainly an interesting name for a pet. Even for a pet's pet." The crow replied. It then ran off.

"What is this, 20 Questions?" Jaune asked.

"Can you just answer the next one please?" Ruby sighed.

"Alright, alright." Jaune said, stepping into the next car.

Inside was a couple of bookshelves, some owls, some "owls", and a blackboard with some papers taped to it. A "owl" standing at the board saw them enter and ran over.

"Oh, here we go again." Jaune said, rolling his eyes."

"Hello, fellow Express Owls. I am stuck on an advanced mathematical and scientific issue." It began. "Do you see this advanced formula on the blackboard? I cannot decipher it."

The four walked over to the board. It just had a jumble of letters and numbers on it.

"Can you decipher the scientific formula for me? What does it say?" The owl asked.

"Uhh, it says: DCB4ILOSE." Jaune read aloud. "How is this mathematical in any way?"

"I see! The solution is DCB4ILOSE!" The owl exclaimed. "Thank you, fellow Express Owl."

"Uhh, no problem, fellow Express Owl." Jaune said.

"And thank you for agreeing to the terms and conditions on the back side of the blackboard." The owl finished.

"Wait what?!" Ruby exclaimed. "Terms and conditions? What is going on here? What am I signing up for?!"

"Oh, do not worry." The owl replied. "We're trying to create your online actor profiles, so that we may update them when needed."

"Ohhhhhhh, that makes sense." Yang said. "Well, not really, but sort of."

They entered the cafeteria. A crowd of "owls" sat on chairs, telling jokes and echoing the car with their laughter.

One "owl" ran up to them.

"I'll take this one." Yang said. "Hey, fellow Express Owl."

"Hello. Us Express Owls all have a part of our body we're ashamed of. This is why some owls choose to pluck our feathers. Which body part are you the most ashamed of, fellow Express Owl?" He asked.

"Oooh, tough one." Yang said, putting a hand on her chin. "Well, there's this one part of my face that just always becomes dry and cracks. I tried putting some cream on it, but I think it only made it worse."

"We had to call the fire department that night." Ruby whispered into Jaune and Hat Kid's ears.

"Oh, poor Express Owl. You shouldn't be ashamed of your face!" The owl replied. "But you'd better get your face checked out by a doctor. I read online it could be a sign of bird flu."

"Well, better hope I don't...eat crow!" Yang punned.

"HAHAHA-I mean, um, yes. Better hope not. As an Express Owl, I am very much disgusted by the consuming of crows." The owl said.

"Yang!" Ruby scolded.

"Oh, come on, sis! I've been holding back on my quota for an entire week now, you think this is anything?" Yang told her.

"Well, the next car's locked." Jaune said, trying the door.

"Should we head back, or look for a-Oh, you found a key." Ruby said, seeing Hat Kid climb down a ladder with said key in-hand.

Hat Kid stuck it in the door, and it opened. They were now in the engine car. There was all sorts of computers lining the end of the car. In the middle of a car was three presents.

"Ooh, one for each of us." Ruby said, walking up to one of the presents. She opened the box.

"A...Detective outfit?" Ruby asked, holding a detective hat above her head.

Jaune gasped. "Are we going to do a mystery movie? Oh, awesome! I loved playing detective when I was a kid! I am hands-down, the best interrogator in the entire world."

"Geez, Jaune. You really become a different person when you enter Hat Kid's world." Yang observed.

"Ah, what can I say? When we go on these adventures, I don't have to worry about, well, anything, really." Jaune replied.

"Same." Ruby said. "It's nice to take a break from being a huntress and do other things."

They all put on their detective's outfits. Ruby like during the Big Parade, kept squealing over how cute Hat Kid looked in hers.

Then, a phone ring rang out. They looked over to see a very old-style phone, rattling from the noise it made.

"Hmm. Hopefully it's not a collect call." Yang quipped, walking over and picking up the phone.

"IS THIS THE KID WITH THE HAT AND HIS FRIENDS?"

Everyone jumped back at the creepy, loud voice coming from the phone.

"I HOPE YOU LIKED MY PRESENTS...HEHEHEHE!"

"Uhhh...uhh...Hello?!" Ruby said, her teeth chattering.

"GO TO THE BACK OF THE TRAIN. YOUR UNCLE QROW HAS COME TO VISIT YOU."

"Wait, really?" Yang asked. "How'd Qrow get on the train?"

"YOU BETTER SHOW YOUR FAM' SOME LOVE, OR I'LL BE TALKING TO A CORPSE NEXT TIME."

"Eep!" Jaune squealed.

The phone hung up.

"Uh, so...back of the train?" Ruby asked, shaking a little.

"I guess so." Yang said.

They went back into the cafeteria, past the laughing "owls", past the blackboard room, and to the last car before the caboose.

There, on the floor, was one of the owls, a knife stuck in him, red goo on the floor. Behind him was a wooden cutout of what appeared to be an old woman, except it had been scribbled on to make it look like an old man instead.

The four kids froze.

"Uh, I hope this is part of the movie." Ruby said worriedly.

"A-a MYERDER?! ON MY OWL EXPRESS?!" The Conductor shouted, rushing in.

A crowd of owls gathered.

"I can't believe someone would myerder one of the Express Owls!" He said in disbelief. "And I can't believe it's yer Uncle Qrow!"

He pointed to the wooden cutout.

"It's definitely part of the movie." Jaune said.

"What do yer have to say for yerself, Qrow?" The Conductor asked.

There was a pause. -

"Oooh, yer givin' me the quiet treatment eh? That's what a merrrderrrerrr would do!"

"Leave this case to us." Said a familiar voice.

The group turned around. A bunch of "owls" Stood at the entrance to the next car.

"We're C.A.W, the Crow Agent Watch." One of them said. "We've been monitoring everyone on this train since the last station. We'll be searching the entire train for evidence. No one is allowed to go outside of this wagon."

"WHAT?!" The Conductor shouted. "I can't even walk around in me own train? How darrre yerrr!"

"Once the clock hits midnight, we'll get off the train with the murderer in cuffs. Stay here, while we investigate further."

"Wait what?" Ruby asked. "But we're supposed to be the detectives!"

"This case is for crow hands only. And last we checked, you are all Express Owls." The crow replied.

"Crows don't even have hands." Ruby muttered under her breath.

The crows left the room, leaving the group behind.

"Those C.A.W peck necks can't tell me what to do! I bet they committed the myerder, and are destroyin' all the evidence!" The Conductor huffed.

"Let's not jump to conclusions too quickly, Conductor." Jaune said. "We'll conduct our own independent investigation, starting with you."

"Wha-ME?!" The Conductor asked. "What about me?"

"Oh, nothing. Just that you seem a little...quick to point your finger at the murderer." He replied, blowing from a bubble pipe.

"We'll go sneak around outside and look for clues." Ruby said, gesturing to her and Hat Kid.

"I think I could help with some interrogation." Yang remarked, grabbing a table and some chairs.

"Why don't you have a seat, Conductor?" Jaune said, sitting down on one of them.

"This is blasphemy! I'm an innocent owl!" The owl pouted, taking a seat.

"Keep talking, Jeeves." Jaune said, circling around the table. "We'll get the full story out of you soon."

Outside the caboose, Ruby and Hat Kid snuck past crows, ducked under seats, and looked around for any clues.

They peeked in the rec room. Ruby looked at one of the card tables.

"Hmmm...Looks like someone didn't finish their game." She said, noticing a stack of cards. "Coincidence, or evidence?" She put one in her pockets. She then looked at a book right next to it.

She opened a page.

"Day 43. Carl is chewing gum with his mouth open AGAIN!" Ruby read aloud. "Us owls would KILL for some peace and quiet away from that loudmouth!"

She grabbed the book. "Looks like we have a potential suspect. Let's give Jaune a call."

She pulled out her scroll. "Calling Jaune…" She said, pressing some buttons.

"So, tell me, Conductor. What made you point your finger at Uncle Qrow?" Jaune asked.

"W-w-well, he was right there in front of him! You saw it yerselves, don't tell me yer didn't!" The Conductor stammered. "It was obvious!"

"Hmm...or is that what you _want_ us to think?" Jaune said, sliding up next to him. "What made you change your accusation to the crows, then?"

"Oooh, so that's how it's gonna be eh?" The owl shot back, getting face-to-face with him. "Well ask yourself this: Why would the crows get on right before the myerder happened? Unless they _knew _the myerder was going to happen?"

"Leave interrogating the crows to us, Jeeves." Jaune replied, before pulling out his buzzing scroll. "Arc. I-I mean, hey, it's me, Jaune Arc. What's going on?"

"Jaune, we found some leftover cards and a diary. Name's Hooter." Ruby reported.

"Understood. Get them to me so we can continue our investigation." Jaune said. "Over and-I mean, uh, see ya."

"Jaune, you've turned from a dorky schoolboy into a bad-cop crime fighter." Yang stated.

"Shsh! You're ruining my immersion." Jaune shushed her. "Now, you! What's your name?"

One of the owls stepped forward. "U-Uh, it's Frank, sir."

"Conductor, you're free to leave...for now." Jaune said. "Frank, take a seat."

The owl did as he was told.

"Yang, take this over. I'll go examine the evidence." Jaune said. Yang did a two-fingered salute.

"So...Frank. Do you come to this train often?" Yang asked the bird, smiling.

"U-um, yeah, I mean, it's sort of my job to be on here. Am I in trouble or something?"

"Oh, of course not, honey!" Yang said, looking deep into his eyes. "We just need some information. You know, boring stuff. You have a lovely beak by the way."

The owl blushed. "R-really? Gee, thanks. I don't get many compliments. I think it's because I'm not socially active enough."

"Mmhmm." Yang hummed. "So, what were you doing at the time of the murder?"

"Oh, just unloading some luggage. Carl, the owl on the floor, he uh, he walked past me on the way to the back car."

"Did he say anything?" Yang asked.

"Uhh, I don't really remember…" Franklin said.

"Oh, you don't? That's too bad." Yang replied, tussling her hair.

The owl gulped. "Uhh, well, he did say something about a package delivery, and how he was so tired of cleaning the Owl Express."

"I see. Go on." Yang said.

"Err, that's all I heard." Frank replied.

"Really? Surely you must've heard some other details." Yang purred, pursing her lips.

"N-no, that's all I heard!" The owl exclaimed.

Yang gave him a hurt look. "Honey, are you trying to keep information from me?"

"U-uh…"

She leaned in close, and whispered. "You seem tense. Let me fix that for you"

Yang took a hand and started massaging the owl's back.

"HOOT!" The owl screeched. "O-okay, look, I heard him saying that he was sick and tired of cleaning the Express. He was really mad about it, too! Like, more mad than I ever saw. He said that he would show them who's boss and that there would be some serious peck neck to pay before the night was over! That's all I know, I swear!"

Yang leaned back. "Thank you, honey. That was very nice of you. Hopefully we might see each other at a coffee shop someday."

The owl got out of his chair, shaking and blushing, running back into the crowd.

Jaune walked over.

"Oookay, next is Hooter." He said. "Hooter. Hooooter. Hootero. Hooty. Hooter. Who in here is Hooter?"

Another owl raised its hand. "U-uh, me sir." He replied weakly.

"Take a seat, Mister Hooter." Jaune told him.

"Y-yes sir." Hooter obeyed, sitting on the chair.

"Would you like something to drink, Mister Hooter?" Jaune asked.

"Uh, maybe some ice water?" Hooter replied.

Back on the train, Ruby and Hat Kid had snuck up behind a table of laughing crows. The crows then started to talk about other things.

"Anyway, back to work." One of the crows said.

"You didn't tell anyone about the-"

"No! Of course not!"

"Finally, we'll get a paycheck. Staying in an apartment with all of us inside is getting very hard."

"Agreed, brother crow. Soon we'll be living like kings. And no one is going to stop us!"

The crows all cackled to each other again.

Ruby smirked. "Glad I recorded that." She said, showing Hat Kid her scroll. Hat Kid gave her a thumbs-up.

"Sending to Jaune…" She said, pressing more buttons.

"L-look, the guy was annoying, but we didn't want to KILL the guy!" Hooter exclaimed.

Jaune smashed his fist on the table. "You wrote that you would KILL to get some peace and quiet. What do you think about getting caught with your own words, Hooter?" Jaune said, staring him down. "That actually kinda hurt."

"It's an expression!" The owl shouted back. "And you peck necks well know that!"

"Please, there's no need to use that language." Jaune said, sipping a mug of coffee. "You're clean for now, but I've got my eyes on you."

His scroll beeped. Something sent by Ruby. It was a voice recording, with the title: "Crows = Potential suspects."

"Yang, we need to talk crow." Jaune said.

"I gotcha covered." Yang replied, winking. She walked over to the door of the car. She opened it.

"Hey! We found the murderer!" She yelled to a crow.

"Really? Let me see!" The crow said, coming over. He stepped inside.

"Hmm...This owl here is the murderer?" The crow asked.

"No, you are!" Yang said, pulling a bag over his head.

The crow made some muffled struggling sounds before lying still.

"We'll wake him up when the time's needed. For now, let's go back to searching the owls.." Jaune told her.

"What about Qrow? Yer haven't interviewed him yet, and he's the one who was closest to the victim at the time of the myerder!" The Conductor said.

"We'll interview at our own pace, Jeeves." Jaune shot back. "Unless you'd like to come back to the chair?"

The Conductor gulped. "Ehh, fine. But hurry up."

Back in the train, Ruby and Hat Kid had snuck into the train's main luggage compartment. They noticed a phone ring. Hat Kid picked it up.

"SO YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST SNEAK AROUND THE TRAIN LIKE THIS?"

Ruby jumped a little, realizing it was the voice on the phone from before.

"JUST DROP THE DETECTIVE ACT! YOU'LL NEVER CATCH THE REAL MURDERER!"

The voice cackled to itself.

"We'll see about that, creepy voice!" Ruby shot back. She put a curled finger to her lips.

"Soo, Whoever was on that phone must have been the murderer, and he must have had access to a phone." She said.

Hat Kid shrugged.

"YOU CAN'T GO AROUND POINTING YOUR FINGER AT SOMEONE WITHOUT CLUES!" The voice stated. "WILL YOU BE ABLE TO FIND ENOUGH CLUES TO POINT YOUR FINGER AT THE MURDERER?"

The phone hung up.

"Hat Kid, we need to find some conclusive evidence. We have a lot of suspects, but nothing to hammer the nail. Let's find a way inside that room guarded by the crows." Ruby told the child.

Hat Kid nodded, and pulled out some keys.

Ruby walked up to the door. She tried the first one. "Hmm. Loose fit."

She pulled out the second one. "Nope. Maybe third time's the-Oh wait, it worked! Looks like I didn't turn it hard enough."

They stepped into the room. A large crowd of C.A.W agents stood in front of a wall of monitors, which were static.

"What are they doing?" Ruby whispered.

Hat Kid shrugged.

"This seems pretty suspicious."

"H-huh?" The crow asked, blinking. "Where am I? Who are you? Wait, you're Express Owls. What're you doing?"

"Oh, I think you know." Jaune said, sliding out of the darkness towards him.

The crow saw that he was tied to a chair. "H-Huh? What's the meaning of this? You...you're the murderer, aren't you?"

"No, friend. Far from it. That's what I'm trying to figure out." Jaune replied.

"So if we're on the same page, why tie me up?"

"Because how do we know your boys committed the murder? Especially with this?" Jaune asked, playing the recording.

The crow started to sweat as it heard the conversation. "T-This has nothing to do with it! We're C.A.W! We don't commit murders!"

"Then explain why you got on before the murder." Jaune demanded.

"L-look, we were going to find us a new job. This old gig wasn't getting us a lot of money, and we had run out of options." The crow replied.

"Go on." Jaune said. Yang noticed his eyes droop down. She raised an eyebrow.

"When we boarded the train and saw the murder happen, we got real excited. It would be our first case in months. So we started to investigate." The crow finished.

"Uh huh…" Jaune said. "U-um, I guess that's believable."

"Jaune, is something wrong?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, peck neck. What's happened to Detective Bad-Cop?" The Conductor added.

"Hey, shush, peck neck." Yang scolded him. "I'm trying to help him."

Jaune heaved a sigh. "Yang, I can't just run from my problems by flashing off to another planet."

Yang gave him a sincere look. "Jaune, you're not running. You're taking a break."

"Like that's any better." Jaune said. "Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, they're depending on me as team leader to pull through this and help them. I can't do that from here."

"Jaune." Yang said, walking up to him. "Listen. It's been a rough couple of days. You and Pyrrha had an exchange that didn't go so well. You need to sit down and try things that will boost your confidence. And this is one of them. I've never seen a better actor for a detective then you."

Jaune blinked. "Really? I thought I was just being a dork."

"She's right, lad. You had me really stuttering for a moment there." The Conductor said. "N-not that I did anything. I'm innocent, peck neck!"

"I feel the same way." The crow spoke up. "You are a very good interrogator. I would hire you if you were a fellow crow."

"You'll talk to her when the time is right." Yang told him. "For now, just relax. We took you on a little adventure so you would feel better about it, and that's what you're doing."

Jaune sighed and smiled. "Thanks, guys."

Yang smiled back.

He then got on a more serious face.

"Now then," Jaune said, coming around to the crow. "When I said 'believable', I would have been more accurate to say believably stupid!"

"We're innocent, we swear!" The crow exclaimed.

"Yang, get me a pair of tweezers." Jaune said. "If we can't get the truth from him, we'll pluck it right out."

"Wait, what?" The crow asked. "N-no! Stay back! AHHH!"

Back in the secret room, Ruby and Hat Kid were still looking for clues.

"Hmm...This is a knife sheath with Uncle Qrow's name on it." She said, picking up the small knife holder.

"Let's look in the Engine Room." Ruby suggested.

They walked in. Another phone rang.

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "Alright, this time, I'm ready for spooky voice."

She picked up the phone.

"Hello, spooky voice." She said, smirking.

"YOU DON'T GIVE UP, DO YOU?"

"Nope." Ruby replied, crossing her arms.

"IT SEEMS THE ONLY WAY I CAN GET RID OF YOU...IS TO MAKE YOU RUN OUT OF TIME."

Ruby looked to both sides. "...And how will you do that?"

"HERE'S A FUN TIME EATER: FLUFFY HAS GOTTEN ITSELF STUCK IN AN UNUSUAL SITUATION. ITS HANGING ONTO A THIN ROPE FOR DEAR LIFE, JUST ABOVE A WOODEN CUTTING MACHINE. WHAT AN ODD COINCIDENCE!"

Hat Kid tugged Ruby's skirt. She looked over at Hat Kid, who pointed upwards. On top of some ventilation shafts, hung a wooden cutout with a picture of a dog taped to it. Under where it hung, there were three rows of gears turning.

"Fluffy? You mean Zwei's pet?" She asked.

"WHAT'RE YOU GONNA DO, SAVE FLUFFY FROM BECOMING SAWDUST, OR FIGURE OUT WHO THE MURDERER IS?"

"Who says we can't do both?" Ruby said, smirking. "We'll catch you, Mister Spooky Phone Voice, and then you'll be _eating_ sawdust!"

"HAHAHA, YOU CAN CERTAINLY TRY."

The phone hung up.

"Alright, let's save Fluffy then. We might find a clue in the process." She told Hat Kid. Hat Kid nodded, then jumped up on a box of wood, climbing up to the top. Ruby stayed behind, ready to catch the cutout in case they were too late.

Hat Kid made her way over gears, sliding past crows, and ducking under vents. She got to the top, and pulled a lever. The crane holding the dog cutout lowered it to the side, away from the gears.

"Nice job, Hat Kid." Ruby said, waving to her.

Hat Kid waved back. She then noticed a crow walking up. He seemed to notice her.

"Hmm? Who's there?" He asked.

Hat Kid jumped back, on the edge of the top.

"Hat Kid, watch out!" Ruby shouted.

Hat Kid looked behind her, stepping forward.

"YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" The crow yelled at her, coming closer.

Hat Kid panicked, tripping, then finding herself holding onto the edge.

"HAT KID!" Ruby shouted.

She started to fall.

Ruby reacted in a split second. She pulled out Crescent Rose, propelling herself forward with a gunshot toward the wall facing the gears. She then leapt off from the wall, catching the child, landing on the ground in front of the dog.

She took a couple deep breaths. "You alright?"

Hat Kid nodded.

"Good. Can't have _you_ getting turned into sawdust, sidekick." Ruby said, patting her head and putting her down.

"THANK YOU FOR SAVING ME, HUMAN! WOOF WOOF!" Came a voice from the dog cutout. "I FOUND THIS CLUE ON THE MURDERER. HOPE IT HELPS YOU. WOOF WOOF."

Ruby looked at the piece of paper attached to the dog. She smiled.

"Hat Kid, I think we have our murderer."

…

The clock dinged the final hour, and everyone had gathered around.

"So… uh, whodunit?" The Conductor asked.

The crows looked at each other. "We...don't know."

"Shocker." Yang whispered to her friends, who chuckled to themselves.

"We couldn't find any conclusive evidence. We have no idea who murdered this owl." One of the crows said.

"What?!" The Conductor shouted. "So you've done peck all to solve the case?!"

"On the other hand…" Jaune said, emerging from the group. "We know exactly who it is."

"Really?" The Conductor asked. "Then who did it? Who's the myerderer?"

"The murderer is…" Ruby began.

There was a pause.

"Uh...Yang?" Ruby asked.

"It's Qrow." Yang said.

"Qrow?" The Conductor asked.

The room fell silent, and everyone focused their attention on the wooden cutout.

"So it was you all along!" He exclaimed. "I told you, Peck Neck Detective Agency!"

"Weeell, you see, the thing is…" Jaune began.

"It's not actually my Uncle Qrow." Ruby finished. "It's actually…"

"DJ Grooves!" Yang exclaimed.

There was silence from some and a few gasps from others.

"...Alright. You got me, darling." Came a voice from the cutout.

"...But why? Why murder one of the Express Owls?" The Conductor asked.

"I know you've been having some troubles shooting a movie darling, so I made this scheme up to help you create an interesting movie plot!" DJ Grooves replied. "The Express Owl was kind enough to put on the rubber knife and play dead to help me."

"Wuzza what?!" The Conductor asked. "Rubber knife?"

"Yeah, can I go now? I'm kinda sore from playing dead for so long."

Everyone turned to the owl on the floor, who had gotten up.

"This rubber knife is also a bit uncomfortable."

"Aaaand...Cut! That's a wrap!" The Conductor exclaimed. "Well, thanks for solving the myerder, my friends."

"No problem. It was a lot of fun!" Yang said.

"Yeah. I...I enjoyed it too." Jaune said, smiling.

Yang patted him on the shoulder. "What do you think? Refreshed and ready to go back?"

"Sure. I'll talk to her after the field trip to Forever Falls." Jaune replied.

"Oh yeah, here's the movie prop thingamajigs you like so much." He said, tossing Hat Kid a Time Piece. She tipped her hat in thanks.

"Well, time to go home?" Ruby asked.

Hat Kid nodded and pulled out the keychain.

They arrived back at Beacon.

"Well, me and Yang have some important business to attend to." Ruby said.

"Yep. Nothing beats a post-adventure snack break!" Yang added. "See you around, Hat Kid!"

Hat Kid waved goodbye, leaving her and Jaune standing there.

"I should go, too." He said. "Thanks Hat Kid, for giving me this opportunity to slap some sense into myself. I know it sounds silly, but it really made me feel more confident, playing the interrogator."

Hat Kid pulled out a disc.

"Hmm? What's that?" Jaune asked.

She showed it to him.

"'_Murder on the Owl Express'"_ He read aloud. "Oh, cool. I could probably play this on the dorm room TV. Thanks again, Hat Kid."

Jaune ran off to catch up to the two girls, leaving Hat Kid standing alone. She took out her keychain and flashed away.

In the distance, two people watched on with binoculars.

"That's her." One of them said.

"Did she just really disappear into thin air like that?" The other one asked.

"Remains to be seen." The first one replied. "Get this to Cinder. We need every bit of detail about this little miss and her very interesting hourglasses that fell from the sky."


	9. Your Contract Has Expired

**Rook: Not much I can reveal that won't spoil most of the story, but a little bit of something to give you an idea, not all of Salem's lackeys will be on her side when things start to heat up.**

**Chapter 9:**

"Nora! Wait up!" Ren called out.

"Sorry!" Nora said, unlatching her hammer from the cable, dropping down to the floor.

Ren slid up behind her, doing the same.

"Thanks for waiting." Ren said. "Hat Kid should be here by now, after blowing the horn for us."

"I wonder how blowing the horns makes the cables move?" Nora asked.

Ren shrugged. "Who knows? It's quite a wacky world our friend lives in."

"And a beautiful one." He added, taking in the familiar crisp air. "This place is very wonderful. Imagine...a world without Grimm."

Nora gave him a look. "It would be a very boring one."

Ren chuckled. "I suppose it would."

The sound of metal-on-metal caught their attention. They turned to see Hat Kid come down the line. She stopped at the end, doing a front flip before landing.

"Well. That's the whole crew. Ready then, Hat Kid?" Ren asked.

Hat Kid nodded. She pointed to one more line, leading to a tall structure in the distance. She then ran over, grappled to it, and slid on the line over to it.

"Last one there's a rotten egg!" Nora exclaimed, dashing over and following suite.

Ren shook his head and smiled. He approached the line and put his weapons over the line like a zipline, and slid down to the two girls, who had already gotten to a small cliff.

He detached his weapons and free fell to the wall of the cliff. Stopping his fall by digging them in, he made his way to the top.

"Well, this is very nice. Thank you for taking us on a little field trip." Ren said. "Mind you, we already had one a couple of days ago, but I would say it went much further south than this has." He noticed that the two girls were staring upward. He raised an eyebrow.

"What's so…" He then looked up and gasped. Standing in front of them was a massive windmill, overlooking the cliff face.

"Amazing!" Ren exclaimed.

"It's enormous! We could fit all the people in the world with it!" Nora exaggerated.

Hat Kid looked at the two and smiled, before climbing up the ladder leading to the floor level of the windmill. The trio made their way up, then to the massive front doors.

"Well, looks like it's open for business." Ren observed, walking in. He looked around.

"Wow. The view from inside is even more impressive." He said. "Nora, come look!"

"Ooh, I want to see!" She exclaimed, running in. "Woah! It's like a clock tower!"

Ren looked over to Hat Kid. "I'm assuming we're going to the top of this tower?" He asked.

Hat Kid nodded. And so, they began the climb to the top. Jumping over massive gears, climbing up wooden pathways, occasionally stopping to rest, and dealing with pesky Alpine Mad Crows that kept pestering them.

At one point, Ren made his way into a storage house for grain, finding Nora sitting there with a mouthful of it. He gave her a look of concern and disappointment. She gave a weak smile and offered him a handful. Ren shook his head and moved on, leaving her to finish it.

"Soo...Ren?" Nora asked, creeping up behind him.

"Yes, Nora?" He replied.

"Umm, when do we get to the top?" She said.

"Well, I think we have about…" Ren began, scanning the above floors. "...I'd say four or five more."

"Cool." Nora replied. "So...How do you think they run this windmill? I mean, it's so big, it must have like, giants running it or something."

"My guess is that the goats do the hard labor, and the nomads deal with more technical stuff." Ren answered, jumping onto a spinning gear.

"You think I'd be good at running a windmill?" Nora asked.

Ren gave her a look. "You looking to retire from being a huntress already?"

Nora frowned. "No, it's just...You wanna have some career options available in case it goes south."

Ren shook his head slowly. He knew Nora was just rambling again, and could feel himself getting more empty inside from answering her questions.

Above them, Hat Kid whacked away a couple of crows with her umbrella.

"Looks like we're almost there." He said, jumping to a wooden ladder. He climbed up the ladder and stepped onto the next floor.

They continued onwards. Ren would occasionally look behind to check on Nora, who would almost always be right behind him.

Finally getting to the second-to-last floor, the trio held on to one of the Windmill's massive turbines, riding them up to the top floor.

Ren peeked into the open window. "Yep, it's here."

Nora peered over his shoulder. "Oooh! Shiny!"

Ren's eyes widened. "Nora...No."

Nora sighed. "But Reeeeeeeen!"

"Nora." Ren said, a little more serious than he usually was. "These are very, _very_ powerful objects."

Nora looked down. "Sorry."

Hat Kid picked up the hourglass out of a pile of hay. She placed it in her hat and looked back to the two.

"I suppose it's that time." Ren said, checking his scroll. He was going to miss the team meeting with Jaune and Pyrrha if they didn't make it back soon.

Hat Kid nodded and took out the teleport keychain. In two flashes, they stood back in the streets of Vale.

"Well, that was a fun little hike. Thank you, Hat Kid." Ren said, bowing to the child.

"Yeah. I should probably go rinse the hay out of my hair." Nora added. "See you around, kiddo."

Hat Kid smiled and tipped her hat. They walked away, leaving her standing there. She looked around. There was a lot of people around, stands selling stuff, and decorations lining the streets. It seemed as though there was some kind of event happening.

She noticed out of the corner of her eye an orange glow. Looking over, Hat Kid came face-to-face with a Dweller! How did it get here? She looked at the snake-like creature moving through the streets. No one seemed to pay any attention to it for some reason. Her eyes widened when she saw it was moving towards a fruit stand.

Hat Kid didn't know whether it was because they loved it or hated it, but when Dwellers came into contact with fruit, they turned it into a time-bomb for some reason. She needed to act fast, or the entire stand would go up in smoke.

The Dweller possessed a small green apple. When nobody was looking, Hat Kid snatched it, and ran for the docks.

Only to run right into four familiar teenage girls.

"Hey, Hat Kid." Blake said, noticing the child. "Whatcha got there?"

Hat Kid wasn't sure she had the time to explain. It could go off any minute. Without a second's notice, she chucked the apple into the water.

"What the-?" Yang asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Did you just throw an apple into the water?" Weiss said. "That's extremely wasteful of you. You should appreciate the amount of-"

Hat Kid held out a hand, motioning for her to stop. She then pointed to the place in the water where the apple landed.

Team RWBY leaned over the dock to take a look. The apple had turned a very angry bright red and was bloated beyond recognition.

"What did you do to it?" Ruby asked.

Hat Kid pulled out her umbrella and held it out over the four. In a flash, the apple exploded, and a light spray of water landed on the umbrella, preventing them from getting drenched.

"Did that apple just explode?" Yang said.

"Do all apples do that in your world, Hat Kid?" Weiss asked.

Hat Kid didn't respond, as she was deep in thought. The Dweller shouldn't have gotten here. So how did it? Did it get here through her keychain? If so, how did it get on the ship or to Alpine Skyline? No, there had to be another answer.

She noticed that the team had wandered over to a taped-off shop. There were two men in suits, examining the area behind the tape. She slowly made her way over.

"What happened here?" Ruby asked.

"Robbery." One of the men replied. "Second dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle."

Hat Kid walked over to the tape beside the four girls. Blake gently picked her up so she could see the scene better.

"That's terrible." Yang said.

"They left all the money again!" Another man observed.

"Yeah." The other man said. "It just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much dust?"

"I dunno, an army?"

"You thinking the uh...White Fang?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

Weiss scoffed. "The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates."

"What's your problem?" Blake asked.

"My problem? I just don't care for the criminally insane."

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." Blake stated, setting Hat Kid down. "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."

"Misguided? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!" Weiss exclaimed.

"So then they're _very_ misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."

Hat Kid wasn't really paying any attention to the conversation, instead pulling out a handheld version of her favorite game, _Corgi Quest 7: The Leashes that Bind_.

"Blake's got a point." Ruby added. "Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy me and Hat Kid ran into a few months ago, maybe it was him?"

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal." Weiss said, crossing her arms.

Blake flashed a glare.

"That's not necessarily true." Yang told her.

"Hey! Stop that Faunus!" Someone yelled. Hat Kid jumped, nearly dropping her handheld.

The five friends rushed over to the dock. Standing by the dock, they noticed a blonde boy with a tail on jump off of a boat and rush off.

Hat Kid was a little taken aback by the tail, but then reminded herself that she spent her days with movie-making owls and bipedal goat men, so this was nothing new.

He stopped at a light post and hung on it from his tail. Hat Kid guessed that he must have been part monkey or something, because he started eating a banana.

"You no-good stowaway!" A man from on the boat shouted.

"Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" The boy shot back.

One of them walked over to him and threw a rock, which missed its target. The two men from the crime scene approached him. "Hey!" One of them said. "Get down from there this instant!"

The boy responded by throwing a banana peel at his face. He laughed, before running up the docks, right past the four. He winked at Blake as he passed, before rounding the corner with the two men behind him. Hat Kid's hat went nuts. He had a Time Piece!

She jumped up and down, drawing Team RWBY's attention, before activating her Scooter Badge and racing off after them.

"Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition. And there it goes." Yang joked.

"And the kid." Blake added.

"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss shouted, before dashing after them, followed by the rest of the team.

Hat Kid sped past the two men.

"Hey! Kid! You stop that man, we'll buy you some candy or something!" One of them yelled.

Hat Kid gave them a thumbs up, before pulling out her Hookshot Badge. Activating it, she shot her umbrella right at the boy's tail, sending him back.

"Hey! Woah!" He shouted. The boy was now side-to-side running with her. She gave him a smug grin, plucked the Time Piece from his pocket, and released the Hookshot.

"Thank you!" She said, turning around and speeding back.

"H-Hey wait! That's mine!" The boy yelled back. He turned around.

"Stop in the name of the law!" One of the men shouted, running at him.

"Daw, forget it." The boy said, rolling his eyes and jumping out of the street onto a building.

"No! He got away!" She heard Weiss cry as Hat Kid sped back over to the group. She saw that Weiss had collided with a girl in orange hair and a green dress.

She pulled up and flashed a cheeky smile while tossing the hourglass in her hat.

"Nice steal, Hat Kid." Ruby said.

"Yeah, nice ride, too." Yang commented. "Maybe I could race you on my bike sometime."

Yang looked over to Weiss and the girl. "Uhh, Weiss?"

Weiss noticed the girl, immediately getting off her and standing up.

"Salutations!" The girl said, smiling but still not getting up.

"Um...Hello." Ruby greeted back.

"Are you...okay?" Yang asked.

"I'm wonderful. Thank you for asking." The girl replied.

There was a pause as they all stared at the girl who was still on the ground.

"Do you...wanna get up?" Yang asked.

The girl seemed to snap back into reality. "Yes." She quickly jumped off the ground and onto her feet.

"My name's Penny." The girl introduced. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?"

Blake gave Yang a nudge. "Oh, I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Penny said.

"You already said that." Weiss stated.

Penny blinked. "So I did!" She turned around and eyed the small child with the hat. "And who is this cute little munchkin?"

"Her name's Hat Kid." Ruby told her. "She's cool."

Hat Kid tipped her hat in a form of greeting.

"Well, sorry for running into you." Weiss said, as they started walking away.

"Take care, friend." Ruby added.

Penny looked at Hat Kid, who tipped her hat again, before Hookshotting over to the four.

"She was weird." Yang said.

Weiss nodded. "Now, where did that Faunus riffraff run off to?" 

"Is it just me, or did it start getting really cold?" Ruby asked, scooping up Hat Kid, as she liked to be carried. 

"What did you call me?"

The group stopped. Penny was right in front of them.

"Oh, I'm really sorry." Yang said apologetically. "I definitely didn't think you heard me."

Blake crossed her arms tight. "It feels really brisk. Like, really."

"No, not you." Penny said. She walked over to Ruby.

"Ohohoh. It is really cold." Yang remarked. "I should stop wearing shorts all the time."

"You." Penny said, leaning in to Ruby, who leaned back while still holding Hat Kid.

Yang suddenly noticed the area around them get extremely dark. "Uhhh, guys?"

"You called me 'friend'. Am I really your friend?" Penny asked.

"Ummm…" Ruby said, looking Blake and Weiss, who were shaking their heads and waving their hands in a definite "no". She then looked over to Hat Kid, who hadn't really been paying any attention, who flashed her a thumbs-up.

"Guys?" Yang said again, eyes wide as plates.

"Yeah, sure. Why not?" She replied.

Both Weiss and Blake fell to the ground.

"Sen-sational!" Penny exclaimed. "We can paint our nails, try on clothes-"

"EVERYONE!" Yang shouted. "Can we please pay attention to the fact that we're in the pecking VOID?!" She immediately covered her mouth and her face turned red.

"Yang, did you just say the 'p-word'?" Ruby asked.

"S-sorry, but look!" She said, pointing.

Blake recognized the purple-black that had formed around them. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"What?" Ruby asked, looking at her.

"Err, nothing. Just feel like this is going to be another headache." Blake replied.

"**WHY HELLO THERE!" **A booming voice shook the area. Everyone except for Hat Kid and Blake huddled together with plate-eyes, shivering.

A purple mass snaked out from the darkness, on its front was a yellow face like that of a jack-o-lantern.

**"You didn't forget about me? Did you?"**

Blake rolled her eyes and put a hand to her forehead. "How could I forget."

**"Good, good."**

"Blake, you know this...thing?!" Weiss asked.

"He calls himself 'The Snatcher'." Blake replied. "I call him annoying."

**"Oh, no need to get so fresh with me, young lady!" **The Snatcher scolded.** Maybe you've forgotten who's got you in on some contractual obligations. Which reminds me…"  
**

The Snatcher leaned over to come face-to-face with Hat Kid.

**"Subcon Well's looking especially dirty, and well, you signed a contract saying you would clean it...so...you know."**

"We delivered your dumb stolen mail to your minions last week. Why can't you just give us a break?" Blake asked.

"**Break? Ahaha. Aha. AHAHAHAHAHA!" **The Snatcher cackled. **"DON'T make me laugh."**

Blake crossed her arms. "Why don't you just do it yourself?"

**"Because then your friend will have no chance of ever getting her precious Time Pieces back, or her soul!"**

"Hat Kid doesn't have a soul?" Ruby asked.

"**Oh, yes. I forgot. While your here, let me give you another contract." **The Snatcher said. He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Hat Kid.

Hat Kid examined the contract.

At this point, the three other girls had just decided that the situation was expectedly unexpected when it came to Hat Kid's world.

"So, what are you doing in Vale?" Yang asked, feeling the need to derail.

Penny, who seemed to be unfazed by anything happening. Looked to her. "I'm here to fight in the tournament."

Weiss walked over. "Wait...you're fighting in the tournament?"

"I'm combat ready!" Penny answered, saluting.

**"So basically you just need to go across the bridge to get there."**

"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part." Weiss said.

"Says the girl wearing a dress." Blake remarked.

"It's a combat skirt." Weiss corrected.

Ruby slid up to her partner. "Yeah!" They high-fived 

"**Let me get a blueprint of the manor."**

"Wait a minute." Weiss said. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed...rapscallion?"

Blake grit her teeth. She decided to avoid conflict she would look at the contract.

"Enter Queen Vanessa's Manor?"

**"The Attic is connected to a stairwell right here."** The Snatcher explained, pointing to a blueprint.

"The who?" Penny asked.

"The filthy faunus from the boat!" Weiss exclaimed.

Blake couldn't take it anymore.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Blake asked angrily.

"Huh?" Weiss replied, turning to her.

"Stop calling him a rapscallion. Stop calling him a degenerate. He's a person!" Blake scolded, walking over.

**"Well, that's all said and done. You keep leaving the harder contracts for others. Well, who am I to judge?" **Snatcher said, stretching his phantom arms.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to a trash can as a trash can, or a lamp post as a lamp post?"

"Stop it!" Blake shouted.

**"Woah, what is going on over here?"** Snatcher mumbled to Hat Kid.

Hat Kid was also confused. Why were her two friends fighting? 

"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time, and he'll probably join up with those other faunus in the White Fang." Weiss stated.

Blake growled. "You ignorant little brat!" She yelled, before storming off.

**"Jeez, kid. I dunno what her deal is, or the other one. I'm just gonna go now, see you all later." **

"By, creepy ghost." Ruby said.

**"I'm not a ghost, I'm a spirit."** The Snatcher corrected.

"What's the difference?" Yang asked.

**"One's cooler sounding than the other."** The Snatcher replied.

"Well then, bye creepy spirit." Ruby said.

**"Goodbye! AHAHAHAHAHA!" **The spirit cackled, as in dove right through Ruby and phased into the ground.

"Eep!" Ruby squealed. "Okay, that was an unnecessary spook! He didn't have to do that!"

"We should probably go too." Yang said, seeing the two girls standing and arguing.

Hat Kid decided she should go too. She took out her keychain and warped back to the ship.

"Oh, dear! What was that?" Penny asked.

"It's a long story." Ruby said.

Hat Kid tossed her newly acquired Time Piece back in the fuel tank. She decided that now would be a good time to finish the remainder of Snatcher's contracts.

The first job went pretty smoothly, as Subcon Well was easy to find, and a bit too easy to clean. She simply let the water out and watched as the well filled up, sending her flying back out.

Entering the manor, however, was not as easy. A strange shadow in the form of a woman chased her around and just genuinely scared her out of her mind.

Finding the attic, she slammed the double doors shut and blocked them with a wooden board. What did Snatcher want her to do in here anyways? She looked over to the window and saw a Time Piece sitting on a couple of boxes. Grabbing it, she jumped out of the window, using her umbrella to parachute her way down.

She landed and scurried back out of the icy grounds and into the still spooky but much more appealing Subcon Forest.

Snatcher was waiting for her.

**"Hey, nice work there, kiddo. That appears to be all the contracts done and done then. I have one more Time Piece for you. Come over to the spot where the toilet used to be when you're ready."**

Hat Kid nodded, but then remembered Blake and Weiss. She wanted to check on them to see if they were doing ok.

Hat Kid pulled out her keychain, teleporting back to the ship. She ran over to the TV, focusing her attention on Blake.

She blinked, as she saw that Blake was in her kitchen with the monkey-tailed boy from earlier. Hat Kid immediately jumped up the ladder and into the kitchen. Blake jumped a little off her seat.

"Hat Kid! O-oh, sorry. I know I should have asked you and everything, but I just needed a place to-"

Hat Kid held out a hand to motion for her to stop. She then smiled and ran over, jumping on her lap, before wrapping her arms around her.

Blake seemed a bit surprised at first, then returned the hug. "Good to see you too."

"So, you're the kid who stole my hourglass, huh? That was a pretty neat trick you did, I'll admit." The monkey boy said.

"For the record, they're not yours. They're hers." Blake corrected. "She's collecting them to power her ship so she can get back home."

"You know, under normal circumstances, I'd say you were nuts, but after seeing that I'm on a spaceship, I don't know what to believe anymore." The monkey boy replied.

"It does give you a more open mind." Blake agreed. "So, Hat Kid, since I did invite myself in, would you like any help getting a Time Piece?"

Hat Kid smiled and pulled out her keychain. .

"Put your hand on it, like you did with mine." Blake instructed.

Sun did as he was told, and in a green flash, they stood in Subcon Forest.

"Ugh, this place? Well, I guess it's better than nothing." Blake commented.

"B-b-b-b-blake?" Sun asked, noticing all the ghosts and creepy snakes with masks roaming around. "Where are we?"

"We're in the Snatcher's forest." She said.

Hat Kid gestured for them to follow her. They came upon the area where Blake and Hat Kid had fought the Toilet of Doom.

"S-So, who is the Snatcher?" Sun asked, still visibly frightened.

"He's just some weird spirit who takes souls or something." Blake replied nonchalantly

"That sounds bad!" Sun said, half freaking out. "That sounds really, really bad!"

"Why are you so worked up?" Blake asked.

"I hate g-g-g-ghosts!" Sun said, his teeth chattering.

"Oh, calm down. Snatcher's not that bad." Blake told him.

She noticed a familiar shine on the other side of the arena. "Hey, Hat Kid. I think that's it over there. Weird. No contracts to do?"

Hat Kid shook her head. This one was a freebie. Or at least, she thought it was. She ran over to grab the Time Piece.

**"Wait up, Kid."**

Blake turned around to see the Snatcher, standing in the middle of the green puddle.

"AAAH!" Sun screamed.

"Shut up!" Blake growled.

**"Remember how the old contractor had his head pop off?"**

"NO!" Sun whined. "You didn't tell us that! You didn't tell us any of that."

**"That wasn't a coincidence. It popped off the moment he stopped being useful to me." **The Snatcher continued.

Blake put a palm on her weapon. "Maybe I was wrong about him being that bad." She muttered to Sun.

"_You think?!"_ Sun whisper-screamed.

**"And guess who else just became obsolete? That's right. You."**

Blake drew her weapon.

**"Now that that possesed outhouse isn't bothering me anymore, and all those contracts of yours are tidied away, I don't need any of you around."**

Sun, drawing what courage he had left, slowly took out his staff.

"**Besides, you didn't think I'd let you keep all these Time Pieces, did you?"** Snatcher asked. **"They fell in my forest, kid. They belong to ME!"**

Sun jumped at the last part.

Snatcher swiped a ghostly hand at Hat Kid, taking her hat and putting it on his head. He let out a sinister laugh, before the atmosphere began to darken untill it was pitch black.

"**Time you kids saw what I'm really capable of." **He said, his glowing face visible. **"Say goodbye to those little heads of yours!"**

  
The darkness subsided, and the arena was closed off in a wall of purple-yellow ectoplasm. Blake and Sun readied their weapons, only to find that they had dissapeared.

"Aw, crap!" Sun shouted. A circle of glowing purple surrounded the floor they stood on.

"Move!" Blake yelled, tackling Sun out of the way in time for a torrent of ectoplasm to explode where they had been.

Meanwhile, Hat Kid was dodging attacks left and right. Snatcher swatted at her and shot ectoplasm every which way. Blake lunged at him, in an attempt to kick him in the face. Snatcher caught it and threw her back to the ground. Sun leaped at him from behind, but instead went right through him.

Hat Kid was a little concerned. Many of the creatures on this world showed they were in a position to be attacked by turning blue.

**"You're probably waiting for me to turn blue, aren't you?" **Snatcher asked as if he read her mind. **"Sorry, kiddo. Blue doesn't suit me. And I guess that makes me invincible, huh? That's too bad! AHAHAHAHA!"**

Blake growled and ran over, jumping up with the intent to strike. A torrent of ectoplasm sent her back onto the floor.

Snatcher started throwing containers with a blue substance inside of them, which exploded as they hit the ground.

Blake slowly got up. Her aura was drained. Sun was completley spooked out, huddling in the corner away from all the chaos. Hat Kid was crawling on the floor, a purple circle about to engulf her.

"Hat Kid…" She said weakly. A blue canister missed her, appearing to be a dud, as it had not exploded. She looked at it for a brief moment, remembering what Snatcher had said about blue.

"Hat Kid!" Blake shouted. Hat Kid looked at her, noticing the blue canister. She gathered what strength she had left, and booked it over. Scooping up the canister, she threw it at the spirit with all her might.

The canister smashed over Snatcher covering him with the blue substance. 

He stopped all of his attacks and looked at her.

"**...Did you just color me blue with my own attack?!" **He asked incredulously. **"This can't count, right? Surely this doesn't count?"**

Hat Kid smirked, before pulling out her umbrella.

**"That does it. TIME TO DIE!" **Snatcher yelled.

"No. Time for us to WIN!" Blake shouted, leaping at him and giving him a hard punch. Hat Kid followed with a fully-charged Projectile Blast, and Sun jumped in with an uppercut. The three fell down, got up and walked over to each other, everyone catching their breath.

"Nice thinking." Sun complimented.

"Thanks." Blake said. "You alright?"

"Ehh, just feeling glad my head's attached." Sun replied.

Snatcher snaked into the ground, and everything around them turned black again. Blake and Sun's weapons appeared on the floor next to them.

"We'll see how long that lasts." Blake remarked.

A blue glow in the distance caught their eyes.

**"I feel...so weak!" **The voice of the Snatcher cried.

Blake and Sun quickly grabbed their weapons, and the trio made their way over.

**"Please...have mercy." **The Snatcher pleaded. Blake narrowed her eyes and readied her weapon. After he tried to kill them? No way! She felt a tug on her shirt. She looked to see Hat Kid who had a pleading look on her face, shaking her head.

Blake looked at the ground. She had to remember that it was more trouble than it was worth to kill a surrendering foe. She looked back up and sighed, putting Gambol Shroud back in its sheathe.

**"Please…" **The Snatcher continued as the approached.

**"HAVE A SEAT!"**

Blake, Sun, and Hat Kid found themselves sitting on a wooden bench in front of the Snatcher.

**"All these Time Pieces landed in MY forest! They are MY property!"** He said angrily.

"No, they're not." Blake countered. "Just because something fell in your forest doesn't mean it belongs to you."

"Speak for yourself…" Sun muttered. Blake nudged him with her elbow.

**"Quiet in the back row!" **Snatcher yelled. **"Now then, let's make a deal, young lady. You get out of my forest, and we never see you again. How's that sound for a deal?"**

A contract paper appeared in front of them. Blake examined it.

"Contract: Get out. Terms: Get out, just get out. The following parts of the forest will be available: None of it, get out. Please: Take all your junk and leave." She read aloud.

Hat Kid shook her head. Blake raised an eyebrow.

**"Not a fan? Too bad. You don't make the calls around here."** Snatcher growled. **"Here. I'll even make it easier for you."**

He stamped his approval seal on the bottom of the contract.

**"Now, all that's left is for you to sign it!"** He exclaimed.

Hat Kid looked at Blake, then at Sun, then at Blake again.

"I don't know what other choice we have." Blake told her.

Hat Kid sighed, before taking the feather quill and jotting down her signature. But before she finished the other half, she stopped.

Blake looked at the child. "Having second thoughts?" She asked.

Hat Kid then started scribbling on the contract paper.

Blake leaned in to see what she was doing. Hat Kid had scribbled out the "Get out." And wrote: "Stay and have fun!" She then moved to the terms, scribbling both of them out and writing: "Be nice!"

Blake could hardly contain herself when she realised what Hat Kid was doing. She covered her mouth and tried to breathe normally. She looked up to see the contract again, seeing that Hat Kid had now scribbled out the "Take your stuff and leave." And instead wrote "Be my BFF."

She couldn't hold it in. She burst out laughing.

Sun leaned over and snickered. "My kinda kid."

In secret, Blake envied that childish innocence and forgiveness that Hat Kid seemed to have endless supplies of. She wished the White Fang could forgive the humans as easily as Hat Kid could for a ghost who had tried to kill them. 

Hat Kid turned back to the half-signed line below and finished her signature. She handed it over to Snatcher who raised an eyebrow and read it.

**"You understand that's not how contracts work, right?"** The Snatcher said nervously. **"I'm giving you a chance to scram, kid! There's no catches or clauses this time!"**

Snatcher thought a moment. **"What if I give you your soul back? Will-will that make you leave?"**

A purple entity resembling Hat Kid floated over to her, then phased inside of her body.

Hat Kid looked over herself, then back at Snatcher, saying nothing.

There was a pause. Blake had stopped laughing, but was still smiling at her stubbornness.

"**Yes? No? Hello? Why aren't you saying anything?!"**

Another pause.

**"...You're quite the character, aren't you?"** The Snatcher said. **"And a tough negotiator."**

Blake started laughing a little quieter.

**"Fine. I'll sweeten the deal."** Snatcher relented. He pulled out a familiar shiny hourglass and put it on the floor.

**"Here, take my last Time Piece. If I continue to see you around my forest after this, I'll be VERY DISAPPOINTED!"**

Hat Kid smiled, and put the Time Piece in her hat. She then tipped it to Snatcher, who floated away. The blackness had faded, and they were standing in the arena, no purple-yellow ectoplasm in sight.

She looked over to Blake and Sun. Blake had a huge smile on her face, and walked over to her, gently scooping her up and giving her a big hug. 

"That was the best thing I've seen happen, almost ever." She stated. "Hat Kid, I think you taught me something back there."

She sat down with her on the wooden bench. "See, I don't know if you've figured this out yet, but I'm not...well...I'm not a human."

Hat Kid blinked. What was that supposed to mean?

Blake held on to Hat Kid with one hand and undid her bow with the other.

"See? I have cat ears. Like Sun has a monkey tail. In our world, they call people like us faunus."

Hat Kid seemed to follow this pretty well, which Blake could understand. Cat ears wasn't exactly something she was new to.

"Also in our world, there has been a long history of humans who have done very bad things to faunus, because they are simply faunus." Blake explained.

This Hat Kid did not understand. The Express Owls and the Moon Penguins were long-time rivals when it came to making movies, but the Conductor and DJ Grooves never actually tried to hurt each other.

"I know, it seems silly to you. And to us faunus and humans who understand it does seem that way as well. Which is why we formed an organization to defend our rights called the White Fang." Blake continued. "At first, we were peaceful. But when we changed leaders, the rallies turned more violent, and lots of people were hurt. Soon those humans who oppressed us rallied with us out of fear. Which is why I left."

Hat Kid nodded.

"But you...You showed that something can be won with peace and love, not just fighting. And if more people in the White Fang understood this, maybe they wouldn't be known as a terrorist organization." Blake said. "So thank you."

Hat Kid smiled at her. Sun approached the group and knelt down in front of her.

"Blake's right, kid. A lot of faunus out there who are being oppressed are confused and terrified. If someone like me or Blake gets to them first, they learn to forget and make peace. If the White Fang does, which is more likely, they turn those feelings into blind rage and a need for revenge."

**"HEY! Are you still here? Get out! This isn't a bus stop! We had a deal!" **Snatcher yelled at them, flying over.

"Oh, heaven forbid we take some time in our lives, you moron." Blake shot back.

"**You know, I could just not throw blue stuff at you and then just kill you." **Snatcher said in a sinister tone.

"We're going, we're going."

They flashed back onto the ship, then back to Remnant.

Blake, Sun, and Hat Kid looked around them. Men in white uniforms and masks stood in surprise at the three. In front of them was none other than Roman Torchwick. Immediately a barrage of weapons was pointed at them.

"Well this is great." Sun said.

"At least it's not ghosts." Blake remarked.

"Still doesn't change the fact that we might die."

"Don't lose faith in us just yet." Blake chastised. "Hat Kid, you up for one more fight for the day?"

Hat Kid smirked and pulled out her umbrella. Sun did so with his staff, and Blake with Gambol Shroud.

"Let's do it."

**Well another long chapter done and done. Sorry it took this long, but I do hope the wait is worth it.**


	10. Bad Guys Are Planning Stuff

**Chapter 10:**

"Ruby, wait for me!" Weiss called out.

"Well hurry up!" She called back, whizzing away on the zipline.

"Oh, for heaven's sake." Weiss said, shaking her head. She looked over to Hat Kid.

"Surely, this could have been a more relaxing occasion if we had brought along someone like Blake."

Hat Kid rolled her eyes. _Stop complaining._

"So, tell me, Roman."

Weiss pulled out her rapier and slid over on the zipline.

"Roman?"

Hat Kid launched a hookshot and followed.

"_Roman!"_

"Ah!" The man in question yelled, sitting up.

"Roman, are you even listening?"

He rubbed his eyes and straightened his hat. "Sorry, kind of hard to when my head is pounding to the rhythm of you slamming your hand on the table."

"Awww, I'm sorry, did little Roman hurt his poor head?" The voice mocked.

"Cinder, I know I don't say this enough, but shut up." Roman retorted.

"You lost me a bullhead, Torchwick. We're not exactly running on Atlas level resources." The woman in question said, stepping out of the shadows.

"Well maybe, if you would make up your mind already and decide what our efforts should be focused on, that wouldn't be an issue." He shot back.

"Silence." Cinder barked. "Although, you do have a point. We should evaluate the new developments."

A woman in green stepped out of the shadows towards her. She pulled out a shiny hourglass and handed it to her.

"With the information provided to me by Emerald and Mercury, I've been able to understand how these _very_ pretty looking hourglasses work." Cinder continued, admiring the gleam. "Well, to a degree, of course."

"So, a field test, is it?" Roman asked.

"Not quite yet." She replied. "When we've figured out how to use them properly, that's when the real fun begins."

"Well, I hope you can sympathise. It's either them, or the dust. I'm not going for both." Roman demanded.

"_YOU_ don't need to worry about both." Cinder replied. "I'll worry about the hourglasses. That child seems to have the most of them. We'll need to get to her first. For now, continue with the original plan. And do not fail me again."

"Technically, I didn't fail." Roman murmured, getting out of his seat and exiting the room.

"Now, then. The next phase." Cinder said, turning to the girl in green. "You will gather information about this child, interact with her, get close to her, and learn all you can about her fascination with them."

"Yes, Madam Cinder." The girl replied. "Although I can't guarantee Mercury will be as thrilled about babysitting."

"Don't worry, you won't need to do it for too long." Cinder assured her. "Just until we've determined how to really use them."

The girl in green bowed to Cinder before exiting the room.

She walked down the halls to a man in a white lab coat.

"How goes the experiment, Doctor?" She asked.

"Hmm. Pretty slow. We're still getting more of those unwanted...side effects." The man replied.

The girl walked over to a metal cage.

"H-hey, uh, can I come out yet?" A fear-filled voice asked. "The Conductor said I would lose my job if I didn't show up for work on time again."

"Quiet, vermin." A White Fang soldier barked, rattling the cage.

"Hoot!" It squealed.

…

"So, this is it?" Ruby asked, stepping up from the ladder.

"Yep." A nomad replied, walking up. "The Twilight Bell."

"It's enormous!" Weiss remarked, studying the huge structure.

Hat Kid walked to the center.

"How did you manage to build this?" She asked.

"We didn't build it." The nomad explained. "It's just sort of...always been there. Like with the Lava Cake and the Birdhouse."

Ruby peered up at the clapper, which hung right above them in the center.

"I guess we have to ring it?" She asked.

"I suppose, but how would we?" Weiss replied. "It's most likely going to take at least 300-"

Hat Kid used her hookshot badge to grapple onto the clapper, conveniently in the shape of a hook.

"-pounds." Weiss finished, staring in disbelief. "I swear, this world makes zero sense."

"I know, isn't it awesome?" Ruby said pumping her fists in the air.

Weiss just rolled her eyes.

Hat Kid swung the clapper back and forth. To Weiss's surprise, the bell rang.

_BONG_

_BONG_

_BONG_

The area around them enveloped in a green light, and before they could react, they were standing in a completely different area.

"W-w-w-w-Wha-Wha-Wha?" Weiss stuttered, her face flustered.

"Weiss, are you going to be like this every time we come across something weird?" Ruby asked.

"B-But t-that, wait, i-"

"Yeah. I know. But I gotta say, this definitely is a little less subtle than some other times." Ruby agreed.

The area around them was pitch black. The bell illuminated a crystal turquoise light as to see it. In front of them, there were platforms hung in suspension. Ruby stepped out onto one of them. Hat Kid and Weiss followed.

"Haha, hey, Weiss. Let's see if this works." Ruby said. "_ECHO!"_ She shouted.

From the void came a reply. "_Echo!"_

"Aww, yeah." She said slyly.

"Ruby…" Weiss began. "Are you for real?"

"What? Just testing." Ruby said, putting her arms up.

Weiss rolled her eyes and stepped onto the platform. Hat Kid studied the area. There seemed to be a row of pillars leading upward towards a series of more platforms. But the pillars were too far away to reach.

"So...How will we get over there?" Weiss asked. "I don't think I could jump that far."

"Me neither." Ruby said.

Hat Kid thought to herself for a minute. She then looked up and snapped her fingers.

"Got an idea?" Ruby asked her.

Hat Kid nodded and pulled out her Dweller's Mask.

"Is that a...fox mask?" Weiss said.

Hat Kid strung it around her neck. A green light emitted from the mask eyes. The light illuminated a green pathway leading to the pillars.

"Oooh, it's like that fire to the lemon juice thing!" Ruby exclaimed. "That's so cool!"

"Yes, very interesting." Weiss added. "I suppose Hat Kid should go in front, so we know which way to go."

Hat Kid nodded and stepped up, lighting the path.

They continued on the path.

"Weiss, look! That pillar over there is broken but still floating!" Ruby said, pointing to said pillar.

"Ruby, I don't need to see more than I already am seeing." Weiss replied, looking at the green platform with a twitching eye.

"Well, there isn't any turning back, Weiss. You've just gotta embrace it."

"I know that, you dolt!" Weiss scolded. "It's just...gonna take some time for me to get used to."

"Don't worry, I'm here." Ruby said, putting her arm around her shoulders.

Weiss sighed. "Thanks."

The path ended and they stepped onto the pillar, then jumped onto the platforms.

"You know, even though it should seem really creepy, it's actually quite peaceful here." Ruby remarked.

"I guess so." Weiss agreed, walking up a staircase.

…

"So let me get this straight, Emerald. Cinder wants us to stalk...a child?"

"What's wrong, Mercury? Afraid of kids?" Emerald asked.

"No, it's just...well..._why?_" Mercury replied.

"You know she has all those hourglasses Cinder's obsessed with." Emerald told him. "We're going to want to get close to her if we want a chance of us getting them."

"And...if she refuses to give them to us?" Mercury asked.

"What do you think?" Emerald replied, giving him an annoyed look.

"But, she's just a kid." Mercury said.

"Mercury." Emerald began, stopping and glaring at him. "Are you really going to put a child in front of Cinder's plans?"

"N-no, I just-"

"Good. Then no more talk of it. We do as we're told." Emerald stated. She started walking again. "We don't care about faunus, children, or humans. If they stand in our way, they can beat it, or else."

"Right. Now, speaking of faunus…" Mercury said, opening a door to a shop. "I believe we have some other business to attend to."

…

"So anyways, we get to the top of the platform, and it's like, wicked tall! We can see everything!" Ruby exclaimed to her teammates in the cafeteria.

"Not necessarily, Ruby. We were pretty high up, but the windmill Ren and Nora climbed was probably taller." Weiss replied.

"Hmm, I guess so." Ruby agreed. "Anyways, Hat Kid somehow manages to ring the bell, and all of a sudden, a green light fills the place. And before we know it, we're in some sort of pitch-black room, with floating pillars and platforms."

"What is it with green lights and teleporting?" Yang asked.

"I don't know, I guess that's just what it means." Ruby replied.

A pie hit Weiss in the face.

…

Hat Kid spun around in her chair, tossing her new Time Piece up in the air and catching it.

She pulled out her keychain. Smiling, she pressed the rose button, teleporting to Remnant.

She appeared to be in the hallways.

"Ah, I believe I was just about to look for you!"

Hat Kid turned around. A plump man stood over her.

"Hello, there, my dear. My name is Professor Peter Port. You must be the intrepid Hat Kid Ozpin has told me about." The man said.

Hat Kid nodded and tipped her hat.

"We have acquired, thanks to a certain shapeshifting hunter, a good amount of those Time Pieces you so dearly desire. Would you have the time to come with me to grab some?" Port asked.

Hat Kid's eyes lit up. She nodded. More Time Pieces? Why not?

"Delightful. Follow me this way." Port told her, walking down the hallway.

Hat Kid followed him.

"So...surely, if you are from another world, you must have the most interesting of stories to tell!" Port remarked.

Hat Kid shrugged.

"Haha!" Port chuckled. "Shy, are you? I can respect that. Or maybe a more fitting term is cautious?"

Hat Kid smiled.

"I must ask, though. For my own curiosity…" Port said, looking at her.

Hat Kid looked back up and raised an eyebrow.

"...What is it like?" Port asked. "Being in a world with no Creatures of Grimm? No threat of constant attack by horrible creatures of darkness? The freedom to go wherever you please without fear or regret?"

Hat Kid looked at the man in sympathy. Of course, this world they lived on was much more sinister in nature than the world her ship was orbiting. Although she did have to worry about things like the Mafia and the like, nothing really ever terrified her. Except maybe that evil witch Queen Vanessa.

"Sorry, if I made it sound pandering. I was merely asking." Port said. "You see, like you, I dream. But although you may dream of Time Pieces, I dream of a world where we do not require Hunters and Huntresses to keep us safe.

Hat Kid scratched her head. Her friends, Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Blake, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Pyrrha. Was that the reason why they are so eager to help her? Is it because they want so desperately to get away from the life they live, even if only for a few hours? Surely, it couldn't be the only reason.

"Well, here we are." Port told her, stopping in front of his classroom. "Why don't you wait here? I will be right back."

Hat Kid nodded and continued her train of thought. The people she knew on this planet...they were supposed to become heroes of some kind, able to overcome any threat. Could they do that and at the same time hang out with her? And furthermore, once all the Time Pieces were collected...how would she say goodbye to them?

She pulled out her umbrella and examined it intently. _Is this all really worth it? _

"Alright! Here you go, my dear!" Port said, peeking out of the classroom. "I have a whole wheelbarrow full of the stuff!"

Hat Kid looked over at the wheelbarrow. There had to be at least 20 Time Pieces in it.

"Do be careful. It's quite heavy. Oh, and if you could possibly bring it back when you're done, that would be splendid."

She tipped her hat in thanks and started pushing the wheelbarrow. It was pretty heavy, but she could handle it.

Hat Kid kept trodding along through the school, some students stopped to look at the small child.

"Hey, it's that kid in the hat again." One of them said.

"I heard Teams RWBY and JNPR are friends with her or something."

"Huh. She does seem to be around them a lot."

Hat Kid just smiled and waved, then continued to push the wheelbarrow. She stopped it in front of the cafeteria, which looked like a mess. A soda can flew out the cafeteria, and Hat Kid peeked inside.

"Off with their heads!" She heard Nora yell.

It looked like they were having some sort of food fight. It looked fun, but Hat Kid wasn't too sure she could keep up with them. She plopped down the wheelbarrow and got to work.

She grabbed a handful of Time Pieces and teleported back to the ship, then teleported back and grabbed another handful. She ducked in time to avoid half of a watermelon, then continued her routine, keeping an eye out for any more flying food.

She finished, and started pushing the wheelbarrow back to Port's classroom. When she came back, the room seemed tidy again. Glynda and Ozpin stood at the entrance, and she saw her friends giggling to each other, covered in food paste.

"Hey."

Hat Kid turned to see Sun and a blue-haired boy. She waved back.

"Let it go." She heard Ozpin say to Glynda.

Glynda sighed. "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world."

"And they will be." Ozpin said. "But right now, they're still children. So why not let them play the part?"

He walked over to the exit, stopping to notice Hat Kid, who waved. He kneeled down and patted her head.

"After all," He continued, standing back up. "It isn't a role they'll have forever."

Hat Kid looked at the ground, then back up at the group of kids. She again asked herself if this was worth it.

"Hey Hat Kid!" Ruby said, running over and hugging the child. "Was wondering when you'd show up."

A little bit of food dropped on her.

"Oops! Sorry!" She apologised, putting her down. "Guess I should go clean up."

Hat Kid looked up at her.

"Oh, by the way, Pyhrra was wondering if she could come on one of your adventures, since...you know, she hasn't yet." Ruby said. "If it's okay with you, of course."

Hat Kid looked over to the rest of the group who were laughing.

"Hey, Hat Kid!" Yang hollered, waving her hand.

"Oh, Hat Kid!" Jaune said. "We were about to watch _Murder on the Owl Express_. You wanna come?"

Hat Kid's eyes lit up. She reflected on what Ozpin had said.

"_Let them play the part."_

Of course. It wasn't about getting away. It was about the experience. That was why Ozpin allowed them to go on adventures with her whenever. Because he knew they would get something out of it more than they would if they simply just attended Beacon: The chance to grow.

Hat Kid looked up at Ruby and smiled.

"What?" Ruby asked, smiling back.

Hat Kid giggled and flashed back on her ship, grabbing some DVDs and a pair of wacky-looking TV antennae, then flashed back in front of Ruby.

"Nice! Binge movie night!" Ruby cheered. "I'll go get cleaned up! Meet back in our dorms in an hour!"

"Aye aye, Team Leader!" Yang said, saluting.

Everyone ran off to their dorms, leaving Hat Kid behind, smiling to herself.

Ozpin walked over, smiling. "As for you, my dear, I'm sure the adventures you and these children go on are going to be life changing."

He kneeled down to pat her head again. "Savor these moments you have with them. They will too."

Hat Kid nodded. "Mmmhmm."

Ozpin put his hands in the air. "Ah, so you do speak!" He said in mock surprise. "I was beginning to wonder if you knew any words."

Hat Kid giggled. No, she just didn't feel the need to use them all that often.

Ozpin walked away, smiling at her. "You are certainly something special, to say the least, my friend."

From behind him, she could see Glynda smiling at her too. "Perhaps I was wrong about her, Headmaster."

"Perhaps?" Ozpin asked slyly.

"Ok, fine, I was definitely wrong about her." Glynda relented. "Do you think she would make a good huntress someday?"

"Maybe." Ozpin replied. "It's too early to tell. But for now, best to leave her to her own."

"Hat Kid! Where are you?" Ruby called from the entrance.

Hat Kid jumped and ran past the two, over to where Ruby had called her from.

"No running in the-!" Glynda yelled, but then stopped. "Oh, how can I possibly be strict to that precious thing?"

"Surely, Miss Rose couldn't be any different." Ozpin remarked.

"To a degree." Glynda said. "But you are right, it seems as though she does fine on her own, the hat child."

Ozpin felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked over. There stood a girl in a red hood, about Hat Kid's age. It wasn't Ruby, he could tell, as this girl had a literal mustache on.

"Hey there! I'm Mustache Girl." She introduced in an accent of some sort. "I'm one of Hat Kid's...friends."

"Hmm. Are you now?" Ozpin asked.

"Oh hyeah. Totally." Mustache Girl answered. "We've been best buds ever since we took down the Mafia Boss. Uhh, she wanted me to pick up some Time Pieces for her. Do you have any I could grab for her?"

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't be a problem." Ozpin replied. "Glynda, why don't you show Mustache Girl to the Time Pieces?"

"Of course, Headmaster. Follow me this way...Mustache Girl." Glynda said.

**Aaaand...End of chapter!**


	11. Things are Getting Heated!

**Mad C King: Good questions. Firstly, I would imagine that Ruby and her teammates, being huntresses, would possess a good degree of agility. Looking at the level design, it doesn't appear as though there are any jumps in particular that scream "Impossible for Team RWBY" to me. Secondly, I'm not so sure if including Time Rifts in the story will really have any effect. The way I see it, Time Rifts are more of a side thing. And while yes, they do assist in telling the story, it would make for some tough dialogue choices. As an analogy, if I were to make a Halo fanfiction, I wouldn't add the skull collectables into the story. That being said, I am willing to make a Time Rift for Remnant, so Hat Kid can learn about its past.**

**Chongus: Haha, don't you worry. I'm not going anywhere. I just don't have as much time, since school has started back up for me.**

**Roboman: All criticism is welcome. I strive to bring the best experience in a crossover, so if something is off, I would love nothing more than to know about it.**

**My memory of the particular details of what badges are available when has faded for the time, so I do apologize. My understanding was that the Hookshot Badge was available to buy from the Badge Seller, but I was mistaken. I am not too keen to change it, because it is vital to Hat Kid's success in the earlier chapters, however if you feel I should, I will do so.**

**The talking was of Roman's failure. Hat Kid, Blake, and Sun defeated Roman, and the events according to the RWBY episode continued as they were from there. Again, sorry if you feel it was executed poorly.  
**

**I am not sure what you mean by vice versa, but if you haven't guessed already as I implied through the chapter, Cinder and her following are experimenting on the Time Pieces, which is causing this anomaly. I don't want to get into too much detail, but it will be revealed when the time comes.**

**Unused Cheese: Okay, couple of things. One: There are some fanfiction authors who don't update their stories for much longer, with many more reviews and views than mine, and yet I don't see you lecturing them about it. **

**Two: My author's page description explicitly states that my chapter posts are uncommon. This is due to both schedule and planning for the chapter. **

**Three: I understand the frustration surrounding this, but there isn't much I can do aside from waiting for the living hell that is school to free me from its bonds. **

**Four: I'm not the type of person who deflects legitimate criticism, but I don't understand why you felt the need to make 5 different reviews all saying the exact same thing. **

**Regardless, you are correct in saying that I should put an announcement about the status of my stories which I will do now. **

**Most Corpse Party crossovers are up for adoption. Exception to this is RvB. RWBY: A New Hope is being reworked into a Clone Wars crossover featuring D Squad. Everything else is still active. Again, time is not my ally here, so leaving 5 reviews telling me about how my readers are unhappy with my post frequency does not accelerate the process. **

**Chapter 11: **

"Aw, you've gotta be kidding me!" Yang yelled from the dorm room.

Ruby munched on some popcorn. "Yeah, looks like it."

"Did the Conductor seriously cut my scenes from the movie?" She asked angrily. "That's such bull-"

"Yang! There's a kid in the room!" Ruby scolded.

"Well, I guess sometimes not everyone makes the cut." Jaune said nonchalantly. "Maybe next time, Yang."

Everyone's eyes turned wide as plates, except for Jaune and Yang, whose hair caught fire.

"Sorry…" She said, turning to him slowly. "_What_ did I just hear, dorkboy?"

"Tread lightly, dude." Ren whispered to his teammate.

"U-uh, I mean, maybe next time you can ask him why he cut you out?" Jaune said feverishly.

There was a pause, everyone staring at Yang in silence.

She raised an eyebrow. "I guess I'll do just that."

Everyone let out a relieved sigh, and continued to watch the movie.

"You know, come to think of it, he did cut me out a lot." Jaune said.

"_Aha! I think I know exactly who the murderer is!"_ The TV blared.

"Hey, hang on, he didn't ever once say that!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Did he just make the movie about himself?" Blake deadpanned.

"I guess that would explain the 20 minute introduction where he talked about how he got his job." Ren said.

"Wow. He's as full of himself as you are, Weiss." Yang remarked.

"Oh, please. Like I'd have anything in common with a talking owl." Weiss huffed.

"What else do we got?" Nora asked. "This movie's kinda boring."

Hat Kid pulled out a DVD titled: "Cooking with Mafia Boss"

"A cooking show with a talking jar?" Yang said.

"That sound dumb." Weiss remarked..

"Yep. Which is why I'm hooked!" Yang replied, flashing a toothy grin.

"Same, let's do it!" Ruby nodded.

They put the DVD in the box and played it.

**Later next day…**

Blake stretched her arms out, taking in a breath of fresh air. She rubbed her eyes.

"Did I fall asleep?" She yawned.

"Yes. Hat Kid and I wanted to wake you up, but you seemed like you were having a peaceful rest." Pyhrra told her, walking over.

"Mmmm...sorry." Blake said, sitting up and looking at the town below. It was very charming, to say the least. One that was surrounded by water, pretty buildings, it was hard to imagine such a town was ever run by criminals.

Of course, until you looked up in the sky and saw all the Mafia-themed hot air balloons. That was a dead giveaway.

Despite all of this, the town seemed very peaceful. There wasn't much more noise than that of a bird chirping.

"Oh, that's fine. You were just enjoying your time, is all." Pyrrha said, smiling.

Blake sighed and looked to her left. Hat Kid sat next to her, her usual cheery and innocent demeanor warmed Blake's calculating and cold one.

She ran a hand through her brown locks.

"Hey, kid." She muttered softly.

Hat Kid smiled back at her and wrapped her arms around Blake's waist.

Pyrrha knelt down and looked at the two.

"You two share a very special bond indeed." She said.

Blake looked back at her and smirked. "It does seem like an unlikely duo, space alien little girl and cat girl ninja who hunts monsters."

Pyrrha chuckled. "I guess not. But then again, it's a very strange world we live in."

"Yeah." Blake said, stretching her arms. "Oh, uh, by the way...I found uh…"

She rummaged through her pockets. "These." She pulled out two golden tickets, each with a number written on them.

"That should be all of them then." Pyyrha replied, taking them. "Looks like we've got another Time Piece."

Hat Kid stood up and walked over to a golden vault, and turned the knob, checking the slips to make sure the code was right. It worked, and out popped a Time Piece.

Blake admired the shine of the hourglass. They were very pretty, to say the least. But she also respected that these objects held immense power, and could alter the very fabric of reality if used incorrectly. She knew it was wishful thinking, considering that there could be hundreds, if not thousands of Time Pieces stranded on Remnant, but she hoped the White Fang had not discovered any of them. She knew exactly what Adam would do with this kind of power.

"_Goodbye."_

The last words she spoke to him still ran through her mind. She wished she could have taken Adam with her, shown him Hat Kid's world, and maybe talk some sense into him on the way. But he was beyond talking. She knew the moment he showed no consideration for the crew of the train they had robbed.

She wondered if Hat Kid shared a similar experience with that Mustache Girl Cooking Cat told them about.

"You okay?" Pyhrra asked.

Blake blinked and looked up. "Yeah, just thinking."

She stood up. "Let's go."

Hat Kid pulled out her keychain and held it out for Blake and Pyhrra to put their hands on.

"Well, thank you for taking me on one of your little adventures, Hat Kid." Pyhrra said once they had teleported back to Beacon. "I must say, it's a strange world you live in."

"Maybe that's what's so appealing about it." Blake added.

Hat Kid smiled. It was one of a kind.

"Well, we'd better get to class." Blake said, stretching her arms. "And _you, _little miss…"

She reached an arm down and placed her hand on her hat.

"Get some rest. You were up till 1 o'clock in the morning."

Hat Kid nodded. She was very tired.

Blake walked away. Pyrrha smiled and waved.

Hat Kid teleported back on to her ship, leaving two figures in the background looking at each other.

Emerald slapped her partner. "Mercury! Why didn't you say anything?"

"Me?!" Mercury asked in disbelief. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Emerald just rolled her eyes. "Forget it. She'll be back. And now we know people associated with her, we can get to her."

Out of the corner of his eye, Mercury noticed a girl in a red hood pushing a cart of Time Pieces. He smirked.

"Actually...I think I have a better idea."

**Meanwhile…**

"Well, now that that's sorted…" Ironwood said, as he wiped his chin of coffee. "I suppose you've already noticed the strange glowing hourglasses scattered around."

"I am aware." Ozpin stated.

"Is there anything you would like to share about these devices?" Ironwood asked.

"Only that they belong as far away from Remnant as possible." Ozpin replied.

Ironwood looked to the floor. "We've been analyzing them in the labs. They can-"

"No." Ozpin interrupted.

"No?" Ironwood asked. "What do you mean by-"

"Ironwood." Ozpin began. "On many things, you and I disagree with on a civil and discussable level, but on this, I will not have a debate with you. Do the right thing and give them to me. I am in contact with the one who owns these devices."

"Relax, Oz." Ironwood said, putting his hands up in a defensive position. "We just ran a couple of tests on it and-"

"Burn the results." Ozpin told him. "Destroy all of it."

"Oz, what is the problem?" Ironwood asked, bewildered.

"My problem is that while you are a great friend, and your military does wonders for the people, you are the last person I wanted to be in possession of these extremely powerful objects."

"Me?! What about _her?" _Ironwood asked.

"I know what she will do." Ozpin replied. " I don't know what you will do."

"Oz, calm down. I'm not going to take them or anything. I just want to know how they work." Ironwood said.

"Exactly my point." Ozpin stated. "No one. No man, woman, child, human, or faunus on Remnant is ready for time travel."

"What makes you so sure?" Ironwood asked.

"We are at a time where mobsters, terrorist cells, and corrupt corporations are attempting to bring our four kingdoms back the darkness they rose from. Do you really think we are in a position to utilize this power without it falling into the wrong hands? And what's more," He continued, pointing to Ironwood. "Do you really think you and your military, with its ties to a company that is known for putting profits above ethics, are prepared to be responsible with said power?"

Ironwood scratched his head, trying to understand Ozpin's implications.

"While your assessment of the Schnee Dust Corporation is arguable, I think you've made your point. But understand that this technology is...could be… our solution to peace." Ironwood said.

"It may." Ozpin agreed. "But consider that many will not want to stop with simply eliminating the Grimm threat."

"I'll have all containers of those Time Pieces delivered to your office." Ironwood told him, pressing some buttons on his Scroll. "See you around."

"Goodbye. And...thank you for listening to me." Ozpin waved him out.

"Hey, when you're right, you're right." Ironwood shrugged.

**Meanwhile: **

"Why hello there, little girl." Emerald greeted Mustache Girl.

"Hm? Oh. Hello." Mustache Girl said, turning around.

They stared at each other in awkward silence.

"Uhh…didja need something?" Mustache Girl asked.

Emerald folded her lips and glared at Mercury.

_"What do I do?"_ She whispered to him.

_"I don't know, just compliment her or something." _Mercury whispered back.

"Uh, uh, you know, I just couldn't help but notice how cute you are!" She said, cringing that she had to act like this.

Mustache Girl raised an eyebrow. "I have a mustache."

_Just take the compliment you little twerp! _Emerald flamed inside her head. But she swallowed her pride and smiled.

"Aw, don't put yourself down like that." She assured her. "I think it adds character."

"Really?" Mustache Girl asked.

"Of course!" Emerald choked out.

"Hmm. Well, thanks for the compliment. I guess." Mustache Girl said, starting to walk away.

"Uhh, wait!" Emerald exclaimed.

Mustache Girl turned around. "Yes?"

"Uhh...uh…" Emerald stalled. She turned to Mercury.

_"What now?" _She hissed.

_"Just ask her about the kid!" _Mercury told her.

_"You do it!" _She whispered back.

_"Me? You have the motherly instinct!" _Mercury defended.

"You know I can hear you knobs whispering." Mustache Girl interrupted.

"Oh, uh, we just-" Emerald began.

"You just what?" Mustache Girl asked. "I hope you're not gonna try to sell me something."

"What? No, o-of course not!" Emerald replied.

"Ooh, wait. Let me guess." Mustache Girl said, smiling.

Emerald's mind was racing.

"You guys are trying to recruit me for a secret organization of crime-fighters!" She announced.

"You...got us?" Mercury replied.

"Oh, good. Cuz it was either that or a secret underground crime syndicate that plots in the shadows to bring mankind to its knees." Mustache Girl said.

"Hehe. Yeah that would be...not good." Emerald "agreed". She felt like shriveling up into a ball after this exchange.

"Well, I guess I could use a team. Take me to your crime fighting boss!" Mustache Girl said.

"Sure. Follow us." Mercury replied, walking out of the school.

**Later the next day…**

Team RWBY gathered in their dorms.

Blake adjusted her arm bands. "I thought that class would never end."

"Alright guys, today's the day!" Ruby exclaimed. "The investigation begins!" Jumping down from the bunk bed, surprising Weiss.

"I am glad you are taking this so seriously." Weiss deadpanned.

"Hey, we've got a plan. That's…moderately serious." Yang said.

Hat Kid adjusted her hat, dusting it off with her umbrella.

"Right. Everyone remember their roles?" Ruby asked.

"You and I will head to the CCT to check the Schnee records for any other dust robberies or inconsistencies." Weiss stated, pointing to Ruby. "Seeing as how I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem."

"The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members." Blake said. "If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning."

"I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale." Yang told the group. "Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard."

"And...Hat Kid!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing to the small child, who tipped her hat.

Ruby's excitement turned to confusion. "Hmm...What should Hat Kid do?"

"Nobody will buy she's a faunus." Blake said. "Rules out coming with me, sorry kid."

"There's two of us going to the CCT already." Weiss added.

"Oh! I just thought of the perfect idea!" Ruby cheered. "The Conductor makes a lot of those cowboy movies, right? Sometimes with heists, involving bandits? He probably knows a thing or too about criminals. Ask him for some insight, Hat Kid."

Hat Kid nodded, and flashed out of the room.

**Meanwhile...somewhere on Remnant…**

"Ahaha! I am back to this place! But...where is the annoying girl?"

The jar of purple mush swirled around, attempting to make out his surroundings.

"**Who are you?"**

"Me? Who are you? Is this the Snatcher's doing?" The Mafia Boss demanded.

"**You are not born of this world."**

"No, but I know some people here that really, REALLY tick me off!" He ranted.

"**I see. Why don't I make you a deal? I can make you strong enough to face any adversary you choose. In return, I want you to place this...on your world. It can be anywhere."**

"Sounds like I need more than a mysterious deep voice and a proposition for me to trust anything you say, friend!" The Mafia Boss replied.

"**What more do you have to lose? You are but a shell of your former self...literally. Trapped in that jar for all eternity."**

"Well when you put it that way, ehh, I guess life can't really get any worse. Alright then. Do your magic!"

"**As you wish.** **I merely need the name of your adversaries, and we can begin."**

"That brat of a Hat Kid and that darned Team RWBY!"

**To be epically continued...**


End file.
